Josephite Father Richard F. Wagner, a native of Rochester, is celebrating his 60th anniversary of ordination in 2019.
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 director for the Josephite Brothers, regional superior, university chaplain, high-school teacher and vocation director.
Father Wagner currently serves as pastor of The Shrine of Our Mother of Mercy Church in Rayne, La.
