CHARLOTTE — Vincentian Father Joseph A. Elzi died peacefully on Sunday, Oct. 27, 2019.
A priest for nearly seven decades, Father Elzi served at Our Lady of Guadalupe Church in Charlotte.
A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated starting at 10:30 a.m. Thursday, Oct. 31, 2019, at St. Vincent's Seminary’s Vincentian Community Chapel, located at 500 East Chelten Ave. in Philadelphia. Interment will follow at Princeton Abbey & Cemetery’s Congregation of the Mission Section in Princeton, N.J.
A native of Jackson, Mich., he attended the Vincentian-run Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal Parish while growing up and was inspired to join the Vincentians when he was 20 years old. He spent 45 years as a missionary in Panama before returning stateside to serve in Long Island, N.Y., followed by a year at St. Mary Church in Greensboro.
In 1998, he was assigned to what was then called the Hispanic Catholic Center in Charlotte, where he began serving the growing number of Latino Catholics in the area. As parochial vicar of Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish, serving alongside longtime pastor Vincentian Father Vincent Finnerty, Father Elzi helped lead its growth into what is today one of the Diocese of Charlotte’s largest parishes. Thanks to his pastoral work and the ministry of many others, the Hispanic community in the diocese grew to encompass an increased number of Spanish-language Masses, adult and youth evangelization programs, Cursillo, and a broad group of experienced religious and lay leaders who developed diocesan Hispanic Ministry into what it is today.
Father Elzi remained in residence at the Charlotte parish after his retirement before returning in his later years to the Vincentian motherhouse in Philadelphia.
Condolences and memorial donations may be sent to St. Vincent's Seminary, c/o Vincentian Father Gregory P. Cozzubbo, 500 E. Chelten Ave., Philadelphia, PA 19144
— Catholic News Herald