WASHINGTON, D.C. — Joseph Nangle, former executive director and co-director of the Franciscan Mission Service (FMS) for 12 years, was awarded the 2006 Anselm Moons, OFM Award at a dinner ceremony on Oct. 21.
The evening included a speech by Kenneth Himes, theology department chair at Boston College, and a silent auction and raffle of handicrafts from countries where FMS missioners serve. These countries include El Salvador, Guatemala, Brazil, Thailand, the Philippines, Zambia and Tanzania.
The event was sponsored by the board of directors and staff of the Franciscan Mission Service who said in their invitation that Joe “continues to challenge the Church and U.S. society to proclaim justice for the oppressed.”
As FMS director for 12 years, Joe brought his experiences as a missioner, he was a sought-after peace and justice activist and lecturer to the lay mission program. He integrated Catholic social teaching, a radical Franciscan commitment to the Gospel, a preferential concern for the poor and a sense of humor into the formation of more than 80 lay women and men who answered the call to international mission.
John O’Connor said that Joe is truly deserving of the honor of this award, and that he “continues to be one of the most highly-respected friars in the province, for what he has done for the order, the Church, and the people of God.”
The Anselm Moons, OFM Award was created to honor the founder of Franciscan Mission Service and to recognize individuals who exemplify the organization’s mission. Fr. Anselm from the Dutch Franciscan Province, came to the U.S. in 1985 to begin Franciscan Mission Service at the request of North American friars. In 1989, he launched the Lay Missioner Program and sent the first group into the field in 1990.
Joe, currently associate pastor of Our Lady Queen of Peace in Arlington, Va., is co-author of St. Francis and the Foolishness of God and Say to This Mountain, and is author of Birth of a Church.
Approximately 300 persons attended the award dinner at St. Francis Hall according to Dominic Monti who represented the provincial office.