The Catholic New World: Obituaries

Teacher

Sister of Providence Mary Josita (Frances Josephine) Ryan, 83, died Aug. 17. A native of Malden, Mass., she entered the Sisters of Providence in 1938 and professed her final vows in 1946. She taught in schools staffed by the Sisters of Providence in several states and served as principal for 29 years. In the Archdiocese of Chicago, she taught at St. Leo from 1941-43; St. Andrew from 1943-45; and at St. Athanasius, Evanston, from 1959-62.

Sr. Rita Clare McDonald

Educator

Sister of Charity Rita Clare McDonald died Aug. 12 at age 89. A native of Elmo, Wis., she entered the Sisters of Charity in 1936 and professed her final vows in 1944. She taught in several states. In the Archdiocese of Chicago, she taught at St. Pius, from 1939-47; and at St. Gilbert, Grayslake, from 1949-55.

Fr. Devin Griffin

Teacher, chaplain

Carmelite Father Devin Griffin, 65, died Aug. 13. A Chicago native, he was the oldest of eight children. He attended St. Brendan School in Chicago and St. Michael in Orland Park. He professed his simple vows at the Carmelite Novitiate in New Baltimore, Pa., in 1958, and his solemn vows at Mt. Carmel College, Ontario, in 1961.

After completing his theology studies in Rome, he returned to Chicago and was ordained in 1964 at St. Bede the Venerable Parish.

He taught at schools in several states. In 1970, he joined the U.S. Navy as a chaplain and rose to the rank of Lt. Commander. He served on the aircraft carrier U.S.S. Midway during the Vietnam War. He was also active in the Knights of Columbus and World Wide Marriage Encounter.

Sr. Rosalie Cullen

Teacher, chaplain

Sister of Providence Clara Rosalie Cullen, 65, died Aug. 7. Born in Terre Haute, Ind., she entered the Sisters of Providence in 1956 and was professed in 1964. She taught at schools in several states. In the Archdiocese of Chicago, she taught at St. Sylvester from 1961-64. She also served for nearly 18 years as a chaplain and in spiritual care services at St. Francis Hospital, Beech Grove, Ind.

Sr. M. Alypia Schalkowski

Teacher

Sister of Christian Charity Maria Alypia Schalkowski, 93, died Aug. 7. Born in Thale-am-Harz, Germany, she entered the Sisters of Christian Charity in Paderborn, Germany, in 1927 and made first vows in 1929. She was sent to the United States in 1931. She began her ministry of teaching in elementary schools in 1933. In the Chicago area she taught at St. Teresa from 1946-49; St. Gregory from 1954-56; and St. Mary, Riverdale, 1957-76.

Sr. Adrienne Hacek

Teacher

Benedictine Sister Adrienne Hacek died Aug. 9 at age 71. A Chicago native, she was professed as a Benedictine in 1946. She served as a teacher in several states. She also worked with the Right to Life program in Washington D.C.

Fr. Walter J. Ong

Scholar

Jesuit Father Walter Ong, 90, died Aug. 12. Born in Kansas City, Mo., he graduated from high school at age 16 before majoring in Latin at Rockhurst College. He worked in printing and publishing before entering the Society of Jesus in 1935. He was ordained in 1946 and earned a masters degree in English and licentiates in philosophy and sacred theology from St. Louis University.

After earning his doctorate in English at Harvard, he taught at St. Louis University for 36 years.

Published more than 400 times around the world, Ong taught and lectured at many of the world's most prestigious institutions. In 1978 was elected president of the 30,000-member Modern Language Association of America, the largest scholarly society in the world.

Msgr. Philip Murnion, headed National Pastoral Life Center for parish ministriesLife Center

By Tracy Early
Catholic News Service

New York — Msgr. Philip J. Murnion, 65, founder and director of the National Pastoral Life Center in New York and a key figure nationally in efforts to strengthen parish ministries, died of colon cancer Aug. 19.

Continuing to work regularly until near his death, he was able to celebrate the Eucharist and deliver the homily at a Mass June 1 marking the 40th anniversary of his ordination.

Msgr. Murnion, ordained in 1963 as a priest of the New York Archdiocese, became known by diocesan and parish workers across the nation for his efforts to help them find ways of conducting local ministries despite cultural pressures and the challenges of change in the church. His work received church recognition when he was made a monsignor in 1995 during the tenure of New York Cardinal John J. O’Connor.

After seminary training, he served briefly as an associate pastor, and then as a teacher at an archdiocesan high school.

But his work took a new turn when he secured a doctorate in sociology from Columbia University in 1971, and then served as founding director of the archdiocesan office of pastoral research. The doctorate provided a foundation for the numerous studies he would direct to help guide discussion about where parish ministry was going.

He directed a parish project for the U.S. bishops’ conference from 1978 to 1982, and directed the 1981-83 Notre Dame Study of Catholic Parish Life. In 1983, with the encouragement of the bishops, he established the National Pastoral Life Center that became the base of a ministry that touched diocesan and parish workers nationwide.

Redemptorist Father Raymond A. Brennan, 70, who pioneered the Thai church’s social welfare ministry to abandoned and disabled children, died in Bangkok Aug. 16.

Born on the South Side, but raised in River Forest, he was ordained in 1959, and arrived in Thailand in 1961. He was founder and director of Pattaya Orphanage and various schools for orphaned, disabled and street children.

Father John Chuchart Srivichairatana, Redemptorist vice provincial superior, said Father Brennan’s was the first church-run ministry to develop in an official and prominent way in mostly Buddhist Thai society.

The priest said Father Brennan’s ministry made clear that the church must be active in society. His work, he said, not only is a legacy of social involvement for the church, but it also highlights the Redemptorist mandate of caring for the most abandoned in society regardless of their religion.

A statement from the orphanage said Father Brennan’s projects included a home for elderly people being kept in jail as illegal aliens. The priest persuaded the government that imprisonment was unnecessary for the very old, and some were released to his care.

Father Brennan’s work continues under Redemptorist Father Philip Banchong Chaiyara, who became director of the “Father Ray Foundation” last November. The foundation manages the social welfare projects that Father Brennan began.