Jozef Goethals was born in Torhout, Belgium, in 1937. After six years of classical humanities at St. Rembert College in his hometown, he joined the international missionary congregation of the Immaculate Heart of Mary (CICM or Scheut Fathers) in 1956. After two years of studying philosophy in Nijmegen, the Netherlands, he spent seven years at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome, Italy, where he obtained degrees in theology and missiology and did post-graduate studies. Subsequently, he served as a missionary in the Philippines until 1970.

He emigrated to USA, resigned from the ministry, and became a teacher in Baltimore, Maryland. For 32 years, he taught philosophy, religion, and languages at Notre Dame Preparatory School. After his retirement in 2002, he dedicated ten years to his genealogy hobby. He published three family histories on the Goethals family and a manual on Belgian genealogy research.

Since 2012, he has published two memoirs, a novel on The Second Vatican Council, and a historical novel on the German occupation of his hometown, which was also published in Dutch in Belgium. He resides in Baltimore, Maryland, with his wife, Felicitas.