Champion of pro-life, Father Doyle, dies at age 82

Father Joseph Doyle, ordained a priest in 1968 for the Society of St. Joseph and the Sacred Heart (the Josephites), died of cancer Nov. 2. He was 82.

“This funeral is bittersweet. Today is bittersweet,” Josephite Father Howard Byrd said during his homily at the Nov. 5 Funeral Mass at Corpus Christi Church. “We come to say goodbye to someone who has shared his life with us in so many different ways.”

Referring to the first reading from Isaiah, Father Byrd said as much as everyone at the Mass would want Father Joe to still be with them, “He has conquered death. He lives no more to die. … The Lord said he has come into his kingdom. … He was ready to bring him home. … Our maker said it was time for us to let him go.”

By being dedicated and faithful in so many ways in his life – as a Josephite priest, a part of the Josephite community and community at-large – Father Byrd said God will be faithful to Father Doyle, as promised in the second reading of St. Paul’s letter to Timothy.

 “He was faithful to the things with St. Augustine High School,” Father Byrd said. “He was faithful to being a member of the pro-life movement. … Life was a gift, he said that so much. … He was faithful to St. Joseph, to the Blessed Mother and was a religious man.”

Myriad of ministries
Father Doyle served in ministries in Maryland, Texas, Washington, D.C., Louisiana, Alabama and Mississippi. He was president of  St. Augustine High School from 1992-2000, founding chaplain of the Woman’s New Life Clinic, co-chaplain of Legatus New Orleans chapter, director of novices for the Josephite Society and Priests for Life spiritual director.

Josephite Father Peter C. Weiss, chief religious officer at St. Augustine, called him a “gentle giant” who led with grace and humility and who had a “determined, holy and committed love” at his core.

“Father Joseph Doyle touched many in the New Orleans area, and everyone who was blessed to come into his presence,” said Father Weiss. “However his greatest love and one of his strongest commitments was to St. Augustine High School,” where he gave students a quality education and ensured they understood the church’s teaching about the sanctity of life.

His great love for the unborn, babies lost to abortion and their mothers was evident in his work with the Woman’s New Life Clinic. He advocated for those who were caught up in human trafficking. 

“He worked with founder Susan Mire to begin this outreach to women in unplanned pregnancies and those who had past abortions in the New Orleans community, fostering the mental, emotional, spiritual and medical support that women and families needed,” said CEO Allison Millet.

He authored “When Jesus Was Twelve” and co-wrote “His Love Beyond Telling” and was a lieutenant in the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre, whose members put the pall on his casket at the Mass.


New Orleans was home
Father Doyle was the eldest of five and the only boy in his family, said his sister, Nancy Reitz, who attended the funeral with her family.

His devotion to faith was evident growing up in Baltimore as an altar server. He would take a streetcar to serve 6:30 a.m. Mass before school. Reitz pinpointed how a pivotal activity during his childhood led him to become a Josephite priest. She said Franciscan Sister Irma Francis would take altar boys to St. Peter Claver Church on Saturdays to interact with African-American boys attending religious education classes.


“It was truly a positive experience,” and one he never forgot. Studying to be a priest was delayed a bit, though, after their father told Msgr. Joseph Nelligan that his son was too young to go into pre-seminary in high school.

“If he really has a religious vocation, he will have it after his education. It will not leave him,” Reitz said were her father’s words. “So, he goes to high school and college (where he earned a social work degree). He worked as a psychiatric social worker in a mental hospital in West Virginia and came home and said he wanted to be a Josephite priest.”

Bishop John Ricard, superior general of the Josephites, was a classmate of Father Doyle’s. As principal Mass celebrant, he said even though Father Doyle was born in Baltimore, he considered New Orleans his home and wanted to be buried here in St. Louis No. 3 Cemetery.

“Today, this guy who was loved so much is going home to God,” he said.


Bishop Ricard said the diversity of the funeral Mass attendees truly reflected Father Doyle’s life of being so attentive to the community.

“We see a life that is vast and inclusive and one with many interests,” he said. “You made his life worth living. He enjoyed serving you and being with you. … He is a true servant. May we be grateful.”


Members of the St. Augustine Band performed “I’ll Fly Away” as Father Doyle’s casket was carried by priests from the church to the awaiting hearse.

In addition to Reitz, Father Doyle is survived by his sisters Mary Ellen Lynch Coyle and Kathryn Baxter and their children.

“I am honored by all the work he’s done,” Reitz said. “This was truly his family down here.”

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