Catholic Church in England: Cambridge professor converted from Anglicanism ordained to the priesthood

John Morrill’s life has been, and continues to be, one of those stories of love and faith that warm hearts. This 78-year-old man, widower, father of four daughters and professor at the famous University of Cambridge in England, has just been ordained a priest and with this, a new mission opens with hope before his eyes and those of his faithful, to many of which he had already served for some time as a deacon.

The priestly ordination Mass of Fr. John Morrill was celebrated on September 21 at Saint John’s Cathedral in Norwich, presided over by the Bishop of East Anglia, Bishop Peter Collins, and attended by around 250 people, including the four daughters of the new priest: Rachel, Ruth, Naomi and Claire.

“This man has heard the voice of God’s call on many occasions, a man who has responded voluntarily and generously to the call of Jesus throughout his life,” Bishop Collins noted in his homily, according to the website of the diocese of East Anglia.

The New Priest and Oliver Cromwell

After recalling that the new priest “has a global academic reputation” with “towers of books” and “cascades of essays,” the prelate highlighted how surprising he found it that “the most renowned Cromwellian academic is about to be ordained Catholic.”

Father Morrill is the author of the book Oliver Cromwell: The brave, bad man of British history (Oliver Cromwell, the brave and bad man of British history), a detailed biography of one of the most important figures in British history. This book refutes the idea that Cromwell was a leftist and explains that in reality “he was a product of his religious ideas. And in this, Morrill claims, Cromwell was completely sincere.

For the scholar, Cromwell (1599-1658) “never doubted that he was doing God’s will, which included murdering more than 3,000 people, including Catholic clergy, after the Siege of Drogheda, ordering religious people to be killed in the act and sign the order of execution of Charles I.”

John’s Wife: Guide to the Catholic Faith

In his homily, the Bishop of East Anglia also recalled how Fr. Morrill, when he was married, “loved much and was much loved. It was his wife Frances who guided you on the path to the Catholic faith.”

In his words to the faithful who accompanied him, Fr. Morrill said: “I owe much to being here today, apart from God Himself and the Holy Spirit, to the people of the Church, and I must say churches, because my ecumenical life is very rich and very important to me.”

“God is a god of surprises and the challenge of ordination was for a long time not only a matter of the head and not of the heart, until the last three years. God has sharp elbows and you can resist, but you know He digs deep to your deepest part,” the new priest continued.

The new priest, who has served the Diocese of East Anglia as diocesan director of pilgrimages to Lourdes, in charge of the evangelization commission and assistant director of diaconal training, also thanked Fr Alban McCoy “who has been a wonderful mentor the last 18 months.”

The story of Fr. John Morrill, priest converted from Anglicanism

The Diocese of East Anglia relates that John was born 78 years ago and grew up in an Anglican parish in Hale, Cheshire, where he was confirmed and received his first communion at the age of 16.

After entering to study at the University of Oxford in 1968, and still practicing the Christian faith, he began a marked period of “anguished agnosticism,” saying that “he was paradoxically upset with God for not existing.”

In 1997, Father Geoffrey Preston, the Dominican priest who married him to Frances, died. At the funeral Mass everything changed and John recognized that being in the company of the priest “I was with God, but I thought too much and opened my heart too little.”

Half a year later, on December 8, 1977, on the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, John was received into the full communion of the Catholic Church, in the temple of St Edmund’s College, Cambridge.

Over the next 15 years he became involved in local parish life and began working as a don at the famous Cambridge University. Because of his service to the students and with his help in bringing Communion to some houses, he began to perceive “a new calling,” this time to the diaconate.

In 1992, a conversation with Bishop Tony Rogers strengthened this calling and he began his training that lasted three years, finally being ordained in 1996.

“I had no idea what it would mean to be a deacon nor how I would have time for service as well as being a good husband, father of four daughters and an academic,” said the priest, after 28 years of service, 15 of which He also dedicated himself to training deacons in a seminary.

In 2007 his wife Frances died. Later, Bishop Michael Evans encouraged him to consider the priesthood, but it was not until he celebrated his silver anniversary as a deacon, after turning 75, that he began to think about retirement, which helped him discover his calling. to be a priest of Jesus Christ.

As a final reflection, Father Morrill shares, “Having called me after the mandatory retirement age of 75 (I’m 78) suggests that God has a sense of humor and certainly thinks outside the box.”

Are there Catholic priests who have children?

Yes, a widowed man, whose children can now take care of themselves, can be a Catholic priest, as in the case of Father Morrill. In the Eastern churches, in full communion with Rome, it is also possible, even if the children are small.

In the case of converts to Anglicanism, there are priests who belong to an Ordinariate such as that of Our Lady of Walsingham in England.

This and other Ordinariates were created during the pontificate of Pope Benedict XVI, who published the apostolic constitution in 2009. English groups which sets out the way in which Anglicans can enter the full communion of the Catholic Church.

One of the characteristics of the Ordinariates, which have a structure similar to that of a diocese, is that they preserve elements and traditions of the Anglican Church.