April 3, 2023

OBITUARY: Father Joseph Jones, CP; served in West Springfield

REGIONAL

JAMAICA, N.Y. – Passionist Father Joseph Jones, 87, a Passionist priest of the St. Paul of the Cross Province of the Congregation of the Passion of Jesus Christ, died at the Immaculate Conception Monastery in Jamaica, N.Y., on March 16, 2023.

He was the only son of Roy and Philomena Jones of Philadelphia. Father Joe was born on September 22, 1935 in Philadelphia. He was raised and educated in the Roxborough, Manayunk area of the Northeastern part of the city. After attending St. John’s elementary and high school institutions, he entered the novitiate with the Passionist Congregation in 1956, pronounced his first vows in 1958, and final vows in 1962.

Having completed his studies in philosophy and theology, he received a master’s degree in theology and was ordained to the priesthood in 1965 by Passionist Bishop Cuthbert M. O’Gara, exiled bishop of Yuanling, China.

He was vocation director and conducted high school and college retreats for 10 years along the East Coast. He then gave parish renewal programs as part of the Province Preaching Team. In 1972, he began his next assignment as vice-rector and then rector/ retreat director at Calvary Retreat Center in Shrewsbury, Mass., until 1978.

In 1978 he volunteered for the Passionist overseas mission in Jamaica, West Indies. There he was pastor of five churches in the southern part of the island: Stony Hill, Mt. Friendship, King Weston, Tom’s River, and Devon Pen. During the four summers of this assignment, he attended Notre Dame University and received a master’s degree in sacred liturgy. He helped form lay leadership for the rural parishes of his missions.

In 1982 he was elected rector of Holy Family Monastery in West Hartford, Conn. When this term was completed in 1986, he was assigned to the Passionist Radio/TV Center in West Springfield, Mass. During his brief tenure there, he served as host and executive producer of the “Chalice of Salvation” weekly televised Mass, as well as host of the former “Crossroads” radio program. 

After producing a documentary on HIV, he began his AIDS ministry, which took him from Massachusetts to Connecticut to New York where he became a part-time volunteer chaplain at Sing Sing Correctional Facility in the Special Needs Unit. In 1988 he became pastor of St. Peter Parish in Greenville, N.C., where he built a new church and added a new wing to the school. He also founded PICASO, the Pitt County AIDS Service Organization. This was a city-wide, ecumenical group dedicated to educating the public about HIV/AIDS and advocating for people living with AIDS. For this effort he received the Governor’s Award.

Father Jones also served on the editorial board for the National Catholic Educational Association (NCEA) in Washington, D.C., which published the HIV/AIDS educational manual for use in Catholic schools.

In 1998 he was elected to the Provincial Council as second consultor, a position he held for two terms. In 2000 he served on the Preparatory Commission for the 44th General Chapter in Brazil and was a delegate to that chapter. In 2006 he was elected as provincial of the Province of St. Paul of the Cross and also attended the 45th General Chapter in Rome.

In 2008 he was elected as one of the six coordinators for the reconfiguration of the Passionist congregation worldwide. He completed his term as provincial in May of 2010. This brought to closure 12 years of administrative ministry to his province.

In August of 2010 he began a sabbatical year of prayer, study, and reflection at the Berkley Graduate School of Theology and then a year of reflection and renewal at the Trappist Monastery in Spencer, Mass. In 2012 he began his residency and ministry at St. Ann’s Monastery in Scranton, Pa., until his transfer to and residency at the Immaculate Conception Monastery in Jamaica, N.Y., from 2017 until his death.

He is survived by Therese Campbell of Villas, N.J.

Wake services were held at Immaculate Conception Monastery Choir in Jamaica, N.Y., on Thursday, March 23. A Mass of Christian Burial was celebrated at the St. Ann Basilica Church in Scranton, Pa., on Friday, March 24. Interment will be at Westminster Cemetery in Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania at a date and time yet to be determined.