The GU Philosophy Department Mourns the Passing of Fr. John Langan

Father John Langan passed away on Friday, March 20th, 2020 at the age of 79. Since 1987, Fr. Langan was the Rose Kennedy Professor of Christian Ethics in the Kennedy Institute of Ethics at Georgetown University, the Cardinal Bernadin Chair of Catholic Social Thought in Georgetown College, and Professor of Philosophy in Georgetown’s Department of Philosophy.

Fr. Langan was born in 1940. He entered the Society of Jesus in 1957, earned a B.A. in classics in 1962, a licentiate in philosophy in 1964, and an MA in philosophy in 1966, all from Loyola University of Chicago. He then earned a Bachelor of Divinity degree from Woodstock College, and a PhD in philosophy from the University of Michigan.

Fr. Langan joined Georgetown University in 1987, and became a central and beloved member of the the philosophy department. He was a constant voice of wisdom, compassion, and justice. Fr. Langan retired from active service at the university in December, 2017.

Fr. Langan was, among many other things, a voice of religious and political reconciliation and justice, a voice with a world-wide audience. He was an internationally respected scholar and advocate of Just War Theory. For more on Fr. Langan’s work on reconciliation and justice, please read the remembrance published by the Berkley Center for Religion, Peace & World Affairs (new window).