John Courtney Murray, Sj (1904 –1967)

LITURGICAL PIONEERS John Courtney Murray, SJ (1904 –1967) Champion of religious liberty, “Man, in his quest for God, has a right to human dignity, and personal freedom, John Courtney Murray, sj, is be free from all manner of coercion or considered the most noteworthy U.S. theologian of the twentieth compulsion that might be brought to bear century. Though feared by many as too liberal, and silenced by the on him. Man’s quest for God, man’s Vatican for nearly a decade, Murray provided the theological backbone adhesion to the truth of God must be of the Second Vatican Council’s declaration on religious freedom, free. True religious freedom . Photo courtesy Province of the Society Jesus of the New York (1965). Dignitatis Humanae consists . in the free exercise of religion Murray joined the Society democratic experiment and com- of Jesus at age sixteen and was within civil society.” mentator on the state of American ordained a priest in 1933. He stud- public life” (Kenneth L. Grasso, ied theology at the Pontifical (“On Religious Liberty,” America, November 30, 1963: 704) “Introduction,” The Catholic Social Gregorian University in Rome, Science Review, 16 [2011], 68). where he concentrated on grace Murray’s thesis called for the devel- and the Trinity and completed a doctorate in sacred theology opment of a “public philosophy” that would discipline the plu- in 1937. ralistic discourse that undergirds the U.S. democratic experiment. Murray joined the faculty of Woodstock College that Murray’s crowning achievement began to unfold in 1963, same year, and in 1941, was named editor of Theological Studies. at the second session of the Second Vatican Council. There he Murray retained both positions until his death. Concern for served as the primary draftsman of the third and fourth versions religious freedom in civil society led Murray to publish a series of Dignitatis Humanae. Though not a liturgist, Murray certainly of articles in the mid-1940s that caught international attention. delighted in the language of “rights and duties” found in As Murray witnessed the deeper integration of Catholics in the Sacrosanctum Concilium, 14: “The Church earnestly desires that United States into the political and economic fabric of the all the faithful be led to that full, conscious, and active participa- nation, he articulated the need for true religious freedom. “Men tion in liturgical celebrations called for by the very nature of the of all religions and of no religion,” Murray wrote, “must live liturgy. Such participation by the Christian people . is their together in conditions of justice, peace and civic friendship, right and duty by reason of their baptism.” under equitable laws that protect the whole range of human With humility, Murray downplayed the groundbreaking rights, notably including the right to religious freedom” (“On nature of Dignitatis Humanae, and thus his contribution to the Religious Liberty,” 704). Council, in the assessment: “Its achievement was simply to bring Although in 1954 the Vatican told Murray to cease writ- the Church abreast of the developments that have occurred in ing on religious freedom, his voice was not silenced. In fact, he the secular world. The fact is the right to religious freedom has was considered a valuable expert for several U.S. bishops, whom already been accepted and affirmed by the common conscious- he encouraged to enter the arena of public debate. Murray ness of mankind” (Quote found believed that society would best function when parties of differ- in Joslyn Ogden, “Religious ent beliefs engage in discussion to deepen core moral commit- Liberty, Vatican II, and John ments. After John F. Kennedy’s election as the first Roman Courtney Murray,” 14). Murray Catholic U.S. president, Murray’s contributions to the public died on August 16, 1967. In forum were celebrated with a cover story in the December 12, Murray “an aristocracy of mind 1960, issue of Time. was wedded to a democracy of It was his book We Hold These Truths: Catholic Reflections love,” lauded Walter Burghardt, on the American Proposition, published in 1960, that “solidified sj, in his eulogy for this pioneer Murray’s position as American Catholicism’s leading public of dignity and freedom. intellectual, as the leading Catholic interpreter of the American The 50th Anniversary of the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy: A Parish Celebration © 2013 Archdiocese of Chicago: Liturgy Training Publications. Orders: 1-800-933-1800. Written by Stephen S. Wilbricht, CSC, STD. This material originally appeared in Pastoral Liturgy® magazine. Imprimatur granted by the Reverend Monsignor John F. Canary, Vicar General, Archdiocese of Chicago on June 5, 2013..

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