Starting his bachelor’s studies in sacred theology at the Gregorian University in 1958, alumnus Monsignor Charles Murphy recalls it as a vibrant time when John XXIII was elected Pope. He continued at the Greg to complete his Licentiate in Sacred Theology (STL).
Ordained in Rome, he returned to the Diocese of Portland in Maine. The bishop soon appointed him Director of Education for the diocese, responsible for Catholic schools and parish religious formation programs.
Ten years later in 1978, he was appointed Academic Dean at the Pontifical North American College (NAC), returning to Rome in an amazing year which included three popes. From 1979 to 1984 he served as Rector of the NAC. This second time in Rome also afforded him the opportunity to obtain a Doctorate in Sacred Theology (STD), his third degree from the Greg.
Reflecting on the excellent faculty Msgr. Murphy encountered over the years at the Greg, he highlighted four Jesuits in particular who had an especially great impact on his life:
Fr. Francis Sullivan, an American Jesuit and professor from 1955 to 1992, taught ecclesiology for the first time in 1958 when Msgr. Murphy took his class. He recounted how Fr. Sullivan has influenced generations of students. Msgr. Murphy keeps in touch with him and this summer he and another fellow Greg alumnus will visit Fr. Sullivan, now 96, at his retirement home in Weston, MA. We are promised a photo from that trip.
Fr. Bernard Lonergan, the renowned Canadian Jesuit, taught Msgr. Murphy philosophy. His reputation continues to grow as a philosopher, but his former students, including Msgr. Murphy, remember him also as a delightful dinner companion and several kept in touch with him over the years.
Fr. Carlo Maria Martini was Rector of the Gregorian University from 1969 until 1978. Msgr. Murphy worked with him when he was on the NAC faculty. John Paul II named Martini the Archbishop of Milan in 1979 and a Cardinal in 1983. Msgr. Murphy was grateful to have known him in those years.
Fr. Josef Fuchs, a German Jesuit, who Msgr. Murphy said was “a riveting teacher of moral theology in both Latin and Italian.” He taught at the Greg for almost 30 years and Msgr. Murphy had the privilege of taking a class from him as a seminarian and again as a doctoral candidate.
Both times Msgr. Murphy studied at the Greg, though decades apart, he and other students learned how special it was. They experienced it as being at the center of the universal Church and valued their school’s many close ties to the Holy Father and to the Vatican.
Msgr. Murphy feels that the people of his diocese have benefited from his Gregorian University degrees and the opportunities of learning from such talented professors. Over the years he has relied on his training and brought these teachings to his work as the Director of Education and in his four parish assignments. In addition, his background was especially vital when he founded the permanent diaconate in Portland twenty-five years ago in 1993. The first class was ordained in 1998. Today Msgr. Murphy is Director of the Permanent Diaconate of Portland, with 49 permanent deacons. Readers throughout the English-speaking world have benefited from his studies through his many articles and several books.
Msgr. Murphy also holds a master’s degree in education from Harvard University and a bachelor’s degree in classics from the College of the Holy Cross (1957). Currently serving in the Parish Cluster of Kennebunk, Wells and Ogunquit, Maine as a retired priest, he resides in Kennebunkport.
Books by Msgr. Charles Murphy (currently in print):
The Spirituality of Fasting. Rediscovering a Christian Practice. Notre Dame, IN: Ave Maria Press, 2010
Eucharistic Adoration. Holy Hour Meditations on the Seven Last Words of Christ. Notre Dame, IN: Ave Maria Press, 2012
Reclaiming Francis. How the Saint and the Pope are Renewing the Church. Notre Dame, IN: Ave Maria Press, 2014
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Models of Priestly Formation. Past, Present, Future. New York: Crossroad, 2006