Missionhurst Father Paul G. Wynants died Dec. 24, 2015, at Mount Tabor Community in Vienna, a house of prayer and Christian community established in 1975 by Missionhurst Father Arthur Verstraete. He was 90.
Father Wynants was born Aug. 2, 1925, in Heverlee, Belgium. He entered the Missionhurst Congregation of the Immaculate Heart of Mary in 1944 and was ordained July 29, 1951.
He departed for his mission assignments in the United States in 1953. He served as assistant pastor of Christ the King Church in Norfolk, 1954-55; professor at Maryhill Seminary in Pinesville, La., 1955-58; assistant pastor of St. Dominic Parish in Columbus, Ohio, 1958-59; and assistant pastor of St. Patrick Church in Detroit, 1959-62.
In 1962, he was sent to Paris for further studies at the Catholic Institute. He returned to the United States and was assigned to the Missionhurst Office of Promotion as regional vocational director for the New England area while he resided in New Haven, Conn., 1963-64. In 1964, Father Wynants was appointed spiritual director and rector for the Missionhurst Seminary in Washington.
In 1975, he was assigned as director of vocations for the U.S. province. Residing at Missionhurst in Arlington, he also served as rector there until 1981. Under his guidance, Missionhurst evolved into the Missionhurst Mission Center, where he served as coordinator until 1982.
Father Wynants served as the Catholic chaplain at Fairfax Hospital, 1982-2005. In 1992, he moved to Mount Tabor where became spiritual director in 2005.
A funeral Mass was offered Dec. 30 at St. Mark Church in Vienna.
