Jesuit Father Joseph T. Durkin died on May 31, just 14 days after his 100th birthday, the Washington Post reported on June 3.

According to the Catholic News Service, Father Durkin was born in 1903 in Philadelphia, Pa. He entered the Jesuit order in 1920, and was ordained in 1933. He had worked at Georgetown University in the history department since 1938.

Aside from his work at Georgetown, Father Durkin also published over two dozen books.

Father Durkin was made an honorary Army chaplain in 1997. He had requested to volunteer to serve as a chaplain during World War II, but his superior refused to let him leave Georgetown. Instead, Father Durkin evaluated students to determine if they were fit to serve in the Army.

During the Korean War, Father Durkin traveled to Fort Belvoir every week to celebrate two Masses on Sunday for the troops leaving for Korea.

Father Durkin was very active in prison ministry. He often visited the Arlington County Detention Center.

Father Gerry Creedon, pastor of St. Charles Borromeo in Arlington, met Father Durkin at the county jail in 1996. Father Creedon told the HERALD in a 2000 interview, "He just inspires me — he has such endless energy for his priestly ministry" (ACH 10/05/00).

The two priests also worked together at The Jefferson, an assisted-living facility in Arlington.

Although Father Durkin did not drive in his later years, he was known to take a taxi at a moment’s notice to hear the confession of a dying person.

Before his graduation from St. Joseph Preparatory School in Philadelphia, Pa., a teacher took Father Durkin aside and said, "I think you have a vocation."

Father Durkin told the HERALD, "Well that was news to me. But I fell passionately in love with Jesus Christ and two months later I was in the novitiate — and I’ve never regretted a moment."