Languille, Welfare Bureau Head, Dies

Msgr. John Patrick Languille, head of the Los Angeles Diocese Catholic Welfare Bureau and a cleric who worked with the poor for the entire 36 years of his priesthood, has died in Seattle, where he was attending a conference, the diocesan newspaper The Tidings reported Friday.

Languille was 60 and his death Monday was attributed to a stroke.

Languille, who directed the annual Mary’s Hour devotion each May in the Coliseum, was appointed to the Catholic Welfare Bureau in 1949 and became its director in 1976. In that capacity he helped resettle refugees and established the downtown St. Vincent’s Center for men and a Good Shepherd Center for Women.

In January of this year he had been criticized for ordering Catholic social workers in the county to quit referring homeless woman to a shelter operated by a nun who proclaimed publicly that Catholics disagree on abortion.

Languille, who was ordained in Los Angeles in 1949, also helped establish the Imperial Courts public housing project in South-Central Los Angeles and expanded counseling services for couples, parents and children.