Joseph Coffey

Joseph Lawrence Coffey (born May 31, 1960) is an American prelate of the Roman Catholic church, serving as an auxiliary bishop for the Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA since 2019. He previously served as a chaplain in the US Navy Chaplain Corps in the United States, Japan and Afghanistan.

Biography

Early life Joseph Coffey was born in Rochester, Minnesota, on May 31, 1960, the son of Dr. William F. X Coffey and Roseanita Schubert Coffey. He is the fifth of nine children. Coffey attended Archbishop John Carroll High School in Radnor, Pennsylvania, graduating in 1978. Coffey then entered La Salle University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, spending one year studying at the Sorbonne University in Paris. He graduated in 1982 with bachelor's degrees in English and French.

After graduating from LaSalle, Coffey spent the next five years teaching grade school, acting as a ski instructor in Switzerland, and working in the automobile industry in Germany and Belgium. During this period in seminary, Coffey was involved with Operation Rescue protests at women's health clinics around the United States. In a 2020 interview, Coffey said that he was arrested in a dozen cities during these protests.

In May 1992, Coffey entered the U.S. Navy Chaplain Candidate Program with the rank of ensign. Coffey served in the US Naval Reserve for the next nine years. On March 25, 2019, Coffey was consecrated at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C., by Archbishop Timothy Broglio, with Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan, and Archbishop Charles J. Chaput acting as co-consecrators.