Michael Joncas
American composer
Jan Michael Joncas (born December 21, 1951) is an American Catholic priest, liturgical theologian, and composer of contemporary Catholic music. He is best known for his hymn "On Eagle's Wings".
Biography
Joncas was raised in Minneapolis, of Polish descent, attending Nazareth Hall Preparatory Seminary and St. John Vianney Seminary at the University of St. Thomas, earning a bachelor's degree in English there in 1975.
Joncas composed the hymn he is best known for, "On Eagle's Wings", following the death of a friend's father in the late 1970s. It has since been quoted by Joe Biden and covered by Lana Del Rey.
He received a Master of Arts degree in liturgy from the University of Notre Dame in 1978 and went on to study at the Pontifical Liturgical Institute in Rome, earning both his licentiate and doctorate degrees there. He was ordained to the priesthood on May 31, 1980, by Archbishop John Roach. Following this, he taught at the University of St.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Michael Joncas” as american composer. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
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The subject matters to the people & ideas register because the source frames it as american composer. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
Chronology provides the most reliable spine for this subject; interpretation should follow only after identities and dates are secure. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jun 16, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q6831700. VIAF identifies the subject as 60773443. The Library of Congress control number is n94043971. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1951, 1975, 1978 and 1980.
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This entry incorporates text from “Michael Joncas” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.