Jesuit Scholar Remembered for Late-Night Liturgy
For 40 years, the Rev. Thomas King, S.J., delivered the 11:15 p.m. Mass in Dahlgren Chapel, six nights a week. That Georgetown tradition ended on June 23 when the Jesuit died suddenly of a heart attack in his campus residence that Tuesday evening. He was 80.
King’s funeral will be held at Dahlgren Chapel of the Sacred Heart on campus at 9 a.m. on June 27, and the wake will be held at the Jesuit residence, Wolfington Hall, from 3 to 5 p.m. and from 7 to 9 p.m. on June 26. Burial in the Jesuit cemetery next to Harbin Hall will follow the funeral service.
The Rev. John Langan, S.J., remembers his fellow Jesuit, “with great respect and affection, as a very determined, hard-working individual.”
”(King) was very dedicated to both his subject matter and his students,” says Langan, rector of Georgetown’s Jesuit community. “All of us understand that positive influence on his students can be an example we should continue to follow.”
Widely known on the Hilltop for his late-night liturgies, King also was a scholar who taught theology at Georgetown for more than 40 years. The Jesuit had nine books to his credit and widely published articles on theological and spiritual topics.
King’s deep interest in the thought of Jesuit paleontologist Pierre Teilhard de Chardin and the connections between religion and science led to the creation of one of the university’s most popular courses – the Problem of God.
“The way he explained theology appealed to me as a Catholic – it was like nothing I’ve ever heard before,” says Don Huber (C’81), who was a student in King’s Problem of God class as a freshman. “He broke things down into terms that everyone could relate to, and he really made theology accessible to both Catholics and non-Catholics.”
More than two decades after leaving the Hilltop, David Boyer (SFS’86) says King’s name still frequently comes up in conversations he has about Georgetown.
“There are three or four professors that are so memorable to me, and he’s at the top of the list,” says Boyer. “I think back to his distinctive way of teaching – that raspy voice and long fingers and how he spoke with his hands because he was so excited about the subjects he taught.”
Many others remember King for devotion to the late-night Mass, where alumni say he delivered thoughtful homilies about Catholicism and spirituality.
In a recent interview, King said the 11:15 p.m. Mass was a good match for his night owl tendencies.
“I’ve always been a late-night person, so I just decided I’d say Mass then because it fit into my day, and it also turned out to be a good student hour as well,” King said.
Mark Gammons (SFS’89, L’09), who was a server at King’s Sunday night Mass for two years, remembered that King would often talk to those attending Mass about what they wanted to do with their lives.
“Something he’s done for me and many others is help (me) find (my) way forward in life in a way that also furthers your relationship with God,” Gammon said in an interview before King’s death.
King lived in the Jesuit residence, Wolfington Hall at the time of his passing, but he also spent 21 years living with students in the New North, Copley and East Campus dormitories.
The Jesuit made his mark away from the Hilltop as well. For the past several years, he has crossed the Potomac on Monday evenings to give a Mass and a sermon to inmates at the Arlington County jail.
He also co-founded two associations – Cosmos and Creation, an annual gathering of scientists interested in religion, and University Faculty for Life, a group of U.S. and Canadian faculty opposed to abortion, infanticide and euthanasia.
A campuswide memorial is planned for September when students return to campus.
The Pittsburgh native is survived by his brother, the Rev. William King, S.J., also a member of Georgetown’s Jesuit community; and sisters Martha Cox of Pittsburgh and Catherine Marie Tovey of Portland, Ore.
(June 26, 2009)
