By Elizabeth Lowe
Twitter: @ReviewLowe
Josephite Father John George Harfmann, who had served St. Peter Claver, Baltimore, and St. Pius V, Harlem Park, died Oct. 30 after a long illness. He was 77.
A funeral Mass was offered Nov. 7 at St. Peter Claver. He was interned at New Cathedral Cemetery in Baltimore.
“John was very active in working with Bishop John Ricard and (a) core committee of urban pastors,” Monsignor William F. Burke, pastor of St. Francis of Assisi, Baltimore, said in an email. “He was also very effective in the support of BUILD’s efforts to develop the Sandtown-Winchester communities. (He was) a fine person, priest.”
Ordained June 8, 1963, Father Harfmann was associate pastor of St. Peter Claver from 1962 to 1964 and 1966 to 1971; pastor of St. Pius V from 1971 to 1972; pastor of St. Peter Claver from 1972 to 1976; and pastor of St. Pius V from 1990 to 1994.
He was a member of the Baltimore Ministerial Alliance and director of the archdiocese Urban Commission from 1977 to 1980. He also served Catholic Charities.
He was associate director of the Josephite Pastoral Center in Washington, D.C. in the 1960s and director from 1980 until around 2010.
He also served on the Josepite government as consultor general.
He also ministered in Washington, D.C.; Mobile, Ala.; New Orleans; Houston; and Los Angeles.
On his final assignment, in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina in 2005, Father Harfmann raised funds for food and shelter to support residential camps in Louisiana. He was pastor of a parish damaged by the hurricane.
Copyright (c) Nov. 7, 2012 CatholicReview.org