Gulf Pine Catholic

Gulf Pine Catholic • December 27, 2019 17 Josephite Father Richard F. Wagner installed as pastor of St. Therese of Lisieux Parish, Gulfport Father Wagner celebrated his 60th anniversary of ordination. Father Wagner grew up in St. Monica Parish in Rochester and attended the parish school. He graduated from Rochester’s St. Andrew Seminary in 1952, then he entered the Josephite novitiate in Newburgh. He attended St. Joseph’s Seminary in Washington, D.C., and was ordained at the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception on June 6, 1959. He has served parishes in Alabama, Mississippi, Texas, Louisiana and Maryland, with special assignments as the post-novitiate formation direc- tor for the Josephite Brothers, regional superior, university chaplain, high- school teacher and vocation director. Bishop Louis F. Kihneman III installed Josephite Father Richard F. Wagner as pastor of St. Therese of Lisieux Parish in Gulfport on Dec. 15. Father Wagner, center, signs the Oath of Fidelity as Bishop Kihneman, left, and Deacon Gerald Norris, right, look on. A parishioner presents Father Wagner with a crucifix. Children of the parish perform a play retelling the story of the birth of Christ. Father Wagner and Bishop Kihneman pose with the play’s cast.