Legendary Georgetown University theology professor, Fr. Thomas King, S. J., died last night. He was the founding president of University Faculty for Life, an academic society on whose board I sit. We will miss our beloved Fr. King.
The following appeared last night on the website of The Hoya, Georgetown’s student newspaper:
Fr. Thomas King, S.J., a respected member of the Georgetown community for 41 years, passed away today at age 80, confirmed Fr. Eugene Nolan, S.J.
King was a professor of theology; he taught The Problem of God and classes covering the works of Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, Thomas Merton, Jean Paul Sartre and C. G. Jung.
King also was a strong presence outside of the classroom. During his second year of teaching at Georgetown, he began offering 11:15 p.m. Mass six days a week at Dahlgren Chapel of the Sacred Heart. These masses have become increasingly popular with Georgetown’s student body over the past 40 years.
He had also served as a chaplain in residence and was an active participant in student retreats.
During his time at Georgetown, King wrote nine novels, including “Teilhard’s Mass: Approaches to ‘The Mass on the World’” (published in 2005) and “Jung’s Four and Some Philosophers: A Paradigm for Philosophy” (published in 1999).
In 1999, The Hoya named King “Georgetown’s Man of the Century,” claiming that “no one has had a more significant presence on campus and effect on students than Father King.”
Eternal rest grant to him, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon him.
Update: I just received this from my friend Fr. Joseph Koterski, S. J., a fellow UFL board member: “The funeral Mass for Father King is scheduled for 9am on Saturday June 27, 2009 in Dahlgren Chapel on the Georgetown University Campus. The wake will take place all day and evening on Friday June 26th. Burial will be in the Jesuit Cemetary on the Georgetown campus.”
June 24th, 2009 | 1:05 pm
A kind and gentle man. RIP Father Tom.
June 24th, 2009 | 1:40 pm
I didn’t go to Georgetown, but visiting a friend in 2004, I was able to attend Fr King’s famous 11:15 mass. I always remember his intensity and sense of mystery. I exchanged a few words with him afterwards, and his confidence also struck me. And later on I learned about his francophilia, which made him even more cool. I just spent a year at Georgetown, and didn’t even once take the opportunity to attend to his mass. Alas.
June 24th, 2009 | 3:42 pm
holy and brilliant priest with a wonderful sense of humility. His homilies are legendary. I attended his 11:15 mass a few times while visiting my daughter at gu. Rip
Good man.
June 24th, 2009 | 3:54 pm
Fr. King was a good and holy priest whom I had the pleasure of knowing during my visits to Georgetown.
Rest easy, Fr. King. Lux Eterna.
June 24th, 2009 | 7:19 pm
God Bless His Soul,
I can safely say that I’ve never ever met him in person and if any of my spiritual cells have breathed him in they are not telling me but I’m almost certain that I’ll get to say hello to him when I get to spiritual grade “ONE” but then again God only knows for sure but where ever you are Fr. Thomas King, please say a special prayer for me.
Peace
June 24th, 2009 | 7:25 pm
You were inspiration and model of Christ’s goodness in action. From the 11:15 to the Theilard class, the wonder and profundity of God was crystal clear. Thank you for sharing your self so wholly with all of us. We will miss you dearly.
June 24th, 2009 | 9:54 pm
I attended GU twenty years ago, always went to the 11:15, took the Teilhard class, and lived for a year on Copley 2nd. For those reasons, I knew Fr. King as well as most of the transient GU undergrads who matriculated over the past 40 years.
I think about all of the students, men and women, Catholics and not, whose lives were touched by this remarkable man. I take comfort in the though that through his influence on all of these people, Fr. King is still very much alive today.
He is closer to the Omega Point now, that place where Teilhard tells us that all of us are drawn to. I wish him a good journey, and a pleasant rest.
June 25th, 2009 | 11:53 am
I am not part of the Georgetown community, but live and work in DC, and got hooked on his 11:15 pm sunday evening mass one night after having missed mass earlier in the day. I was blown away, and I began to go every sunday night. Of all the priests I have ever known, Fr. King’s celebration of the Eucharist and his homilies were probably the most profound and authentic that I have ever had the privilege to witness. Being in the presence of Fr. King at his mass was like being in the presence of a saint. Many of the things that Fr. King said are etched in my memory forever. I will never forget him. Thank you Fr. King for your profound witness! May God bless you and give you your eternal reward.
June 25th, 2009 | 7:00 pm
By the grace of God, I and my daughter just saw Father King and spent most of a day with him less than a month ago to celebrate the 40th anniversary of his teaching The Problem of God and of his celebrating the 11:15 Mass. We got to attend the first lecture in the course, a testimonial dinner, and the 11:15 Mass for Pentecost. I had Father King for The Problem of God in Fall 1972 and Kirkegaard & Wittgenstein in Spring 1974. I went back to Alumni College in summer of 1987 for a week-long course on Contemplation and Action, which was about Merton, and I think Teilhard. Of course, he was a fabulous teacher and wonderful human being. But even better, in recent years, as Georgetown University succumbed to pressure to secularize (promoting its most powerful alumnus Bill Clinton & covering the crucifix when Obama came to speak), and to downplay Catholic teaching on life issues (totally silent on abortion), Father King remained faithful and vigilant. At the celebration, one person asked why Fr. King had inspired so many vocations to the priesthood, brotherhood, and sisterhood. In my opinion, part of it was that he was the very picture of a happy, effective, and totally faithful priest and teacher. Thank you, God, for allowing me to have known Father King! Dr. Elise Nugent Rose
(my email is botanist53 at yahoo dot com)
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