American Roman Catholic priest, author, and founder of the Missionaries of Charity Fathers.
Joseph Langford (1951–2010) was an American Roman Catholic priest and author. He co-founded the Missionaries of Charity Fathers with Mother Teresa.
Early life and education.
He was born on June 15, 1951, in Toledo, Ohio, to Martha Jane Gelin Langford (1924–2015) and Gerald J. Langford (1918–1997). They relocated to San Diego, where he went to Our Lady of Grace Catholic School in nearby El Cajon, and University of San Diego High School, graduating in 1969. After theological studies beginning in 1972 in Rome, he was ordained a priest of the Oblates of the Virgin Mary in 1978. He spoke fluent Italian and Spanish.
Ministry.
Mother Theresa had already formed the Missionaries of Charity Brothers in 1963. However, she had long expressed a desire for priests to be affiliated with her congregation. In 1972 in Rome, after Joseph Langford read Malcolm Muggeridge's book "Something Beautiful for God," he felt called to unite with Mother Teresa. At first he volunteered with her sisters in Rome, serving at a homeless shelter near the Colosseum, and he met her multiple times at that location as he proceeded toward ordination, because it was her usual stop-off between Calcutta and other world destinations. He said in interviews that he originally desired to join the brothers, but couldn't because he also knew he was called to be a priest. That's how he came up with the idea for an affiliated congregation, which they began in the summer of 1983 (some sources say 1981) as the Corpus Christi Movement, which became the Missionaries of Charity Fathers in 1983. They went together to the Vatican and the Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith to seek permission for the initial group, which was granted by Archbishop Jerome Hamer. They set up the first house in the South Bronx, where he wrote the congregation's constitutions. In 1996 they moved the congregation to Tijuana, Mexico, which had similar challenges with poverty as Calcutta, India.
Books.
"Mother Teresa's Secret Fire: The Encounter that Changed Her Life, and How It Can Transform Your Own" (Our Sunday Visitor, 2008).
"Mother Teresa: In the Shadow of Our Lady: Sharing Mother Teresa's Mystical Relationship With Mary" (Our Sunday Visitor, 2007).
"I Thirst: 40 Days With Mother Teresa" (Augustine Institute, 2018, posthumous).
References.
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