REVEREND FRANCIS EDWARD BUTLER, S.S.J.

December 23, 1937 - October 22, 2026

Josephite Father Francis Edward Butler was born in New York City on December 23, 1937, to Francis and Mary McKinnon Butler. He was baptized at St. Joseph Church in Long Island, New York, and educated at St. Joseph Grammar School and Cardinal Hayes High School in Bronx, New York. He continued his education at Le Moyne College in Syracuse, New York, with a degree in Sociology. In 1956 He entered the Jesuit Brotherhood and served that community for twenty-five years. In 1980 Father Butler applied, and was accepted, as a candidate for the Josephite Society. He made his Perpetual Promise as a Josephite on March 18, 1984, and was ordained to the Priesthood on May 25, 1985.

Father Butler's first assignment was as an associate pastor at Most Pure Heart of Mary Church in Mobile, Alabama, before being transferred to St. Peter the Apostle Church in Houston, Texas. In 1987 he was appointed to the staff of St. Augustine High School in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Father Butler's first pastorate was at St. John the Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama, from 1989 until 1996. He was well known there for the soup kitchen Center he established for the needy. In 1996 Father became the pastor at Our Mother of Mercy Church in Church Point, Louisiana, for an eighteen-year stay.

Upon his retirement in 2014, St. Joseph Manor and the Josephite Senior Residence at St. Joseph Seminary became his home. From March 2023, until his death on October 22, 2026, Fr. Butler was under the care of the Sisters Servants of Mary Immaculate at Sacred Heart Home in Hyattsville, Maryland.

Father Butler's passions were promoting devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary; providing for the hungry and homeless; establishing a Josephite Education Fund, with the help of generous benefactors, to help children in need of assistance; and, advocating for the protection and respect of all life, from conception to natural death.

Father Butler will lie in repose in Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church 1600 Morris Road SE. Washington, DC on Tuesday, November 3, 2026, from 10AM until 11AM. The Funeral Mass will begin at 11AM. A Mass will be celebrated in Our Mother of Mercy Church 693 N. Main Street Church Point, Louisiana on Friday, November 6, 2026, at 11AM. Interment will follow the Mass in Our Mother of Mercy Church Cemetery #2.