John FitzGerald – R.I.P.

John FitzGerald – Carmelite friar, poet, philosopher and lover of the Welsh language and all things Welsh – died on 28th November at Llanelli after a short illness. He was 80.

Born Michael FitzGerald in 1927 in Ludlow on the Welsh border, as a teenager he came to know the Carmelites – an ancient religious order of the Roman Catholic Church – at Aberystwyth. It was there that he met Saunders Lewis, one of the founding fathers of Welsh nationalism. In 1943 he made his profession as a Carmelite friar in Dublin, taking the religious name John of the Cross. He began studies at University College Dublin where he combined an enthusiasm for the Classics with Celtic Studies. He went on to study theology at the Jesuit Faculty at Milltown Park in Dublin and then the Gregorian University in Rome. John was ordained a priest in 1951 and continued his enthusiasm for Greek philosophy with valuable years at Christ’s College, Cambridge. He could well have settled there but his superiors called him to work in Wales and so for the next half-century and more Wales would be his home in every sense.

From 1958 Fr. John was prior of the Carmelite house of studies at Llandeilo. Here for a decade he helped form young friars in their religious commitment and introduced them to philosophy. He was also responsible for the pastoral care of the local Roman Catholic community. John was an inspirational philosophy teacher with a love of the Pre-Socratics; he encouraged his students to read widely and to be challenged. This was also the time when John began to immerse himself in the Welsh language, earning the respect of the local community and supporting and enhancing the position of Welsh-speaking Catholics.

In the late 1960s John moved to Aberystwyth where the Carmelite community was responsible for St. Mary’s College (which specialised in nurturing ‘late vocations’ to the priesthood) and caring for the Catholic parish and the chaplaincy at the University of Wales. About this time his elder brother Gregory, also a Carmelite and lover of the Welsh language, was parish priest and mayor of Lampeter. John was to stay in Aberystwyth until 2004 lecturing in the university, and then in retirement acting as chaplain and also involved in the life of the parish.

The years in Aberystwyth were when John’s gifts flourished. He translated Descartes into Welsh and also Aristotle’s Ethics. He helped translate the Catholic liturgy into Welsh and was involved in an ecumenical translation of the Bible. Over that period he was a regular contributor to radio and television. He was so much part of the community’s life that when the local Welsh Baptist Chapel was without a minister John was invited to preach and help sustain the chapel. John found a gift for poetry and became involved with the National Eisteddfod earning great respect among the bards. A book of John’s poetry in Welsh, Grawn Gwirionedd, was long-listed for the Book of the Year Award of the Welsh Assembly in 2007. His commentary on The Letter to the Hebrews, originally written in Welsh, was translated into English and published in 2005 as the Lenten reading recommended by the Catholic Bishops of Wales.

From 2002 John combined the office of university chaplain with that of prior of his community until 2004 when the Carmelites transferred from Aberystwyth to Llanelli where he continued as prior. Enjoying discussion and debate with students and colleagues, John also developed an enthusiasm for the Basque language and the Basque country. He saw similarities between Welsh and Basque as minority cultures surviving against the mainstream. In the last few years John became involved with cultural exchange visits between Wales and the Basque country.

John never seemed to age. At eighty he was tall, spare and had a youthful way. He delighted in the internet and continued to enjoy working with young people. Whenever he came into a room he could feel the zest, energy and joie de vivre. However at the heart of his life was his faith and a deep contemplative spirit. His patron saint was John of the Cross, Carmelite poet and mystic, and it would be true to say that like his namesake John’s poetry was often the expression of deep spiritual experience. The Carmelite friars and his two surviving sisters mourn a very human brother, and many in Wales will miss his creative presence. A final memory of John was his delight in cracking the cryptic crosswords in The Guardian; it was rare that he failed to see the allusion.

Fr. John’s Requiem Mass will take place at 11.30 on Friday 7th December at The Friars, Aylesford, Kent.

Wilfrid McGreal, O.Carm.
Whitefriars, Faversham

Un cwestiwn. Pam fod yr angladd yn Kent?

Mae marwolaeth John Fitzgerald yn golled i’r Brodyr Gwynion, yr Eglwys, Cymru, yr iaith, ac wrth gwrs i’r rhai ohonon ni a gafodd e fel caplan yn Aber.

Bydded enaid John drwy drugaredd Duw orffwys mewn tangnefedd a chodi mewn gogoniant.

http://www.carmelite.org/jof.htm