Edmund James O'Reilly (30 April 1811 – 10 November 1878) was an Irish Jesuit

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

theologian.

Biography

Edmund James O'Reilly was born in

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, on 30 April 1811. He was educated at

Clongowes Clongowes Wood College SJ is a voluntary boarding school for boys near Clane, County Kildare, Ireland, founded by the Jesuits in 1814, which features prominently in James Joyce's semi-autobiographical novel ''A Portrait of the Artist as a Young ...

and

Maynooth Maynooth (; ga, Maigh Nuad) is a university town in north County Kildare, Ireland. It is home to Maynooth University (part of the National University of Ireland and also known as the National University of Ireland, Maynooth) and St Patrick's ...

and studied theology for seven years in the Roman College in Rome. He then gained the decree of Doctor of Divinity by a "public act" de iniversa theologia. He was

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the denominational hierarchy composed of other clergy) to perform va ...

a priest in 1838. He taught theology for 13 years at

Maynooth College St Patrick's Pontifical University, Maynooth ( ga, Coláiste Naoimh Phádraig, Maigh Nuad), is the "National Seminary for Ireland" (a Roman Catholic college), and a pontifical university, located in the town of Maynooth, from Dublin, Ireland. ...

. He entered the

Jesuit , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders ...

novitiate The novitiate, also called the noviciate, is the period of training and preparation that a Christian ''novice'' (or ''prospective'') monastic, apostolic, or member of a religious order undergoes prior to taking vows in order to discern whether ...

Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

, Italy. He taught theology for several years at Saint Beuno's College in

North Wales , area_land_km2 = 6,172 , postal_code_type = Postcode , postal_code = LL, CH, SY , image_map1 = Wales North Wales locator map.svg , map_caption1 = Six principal areas of Wales common ...

.Russell, M. (1911)
"Edmund O'Reilly"
In The Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. Retrieved 24 September 2021 from New Advent. O'Reilly was named Professor of Theology at the

Catholic University of Ireland The Catholic University of Ireland (CUI; ga, Ollscoil Chaitliceach na hÉireann) was a private Catholic university in Dublin, Ireland. It was founded in 1851 following the Synod of Thurles in 1850, and in response to the Queen's University o ...

in Dublin on its foundation.Daly, John S
"Fr. Edmund James O’Reilly, S.J.: On the Idea of a Long-Term Vacancy of the Holy See"
Revised and edited by Lane, John, October 1999. Retrieved 24 September 2021. Father

Peter Jan Beckx Peter Jan Beckx (also ''Pieter Jan Beckx'', in French ''Pierre Jean Beckx''; 8 February 1795 – 4 March 1887) born in Zichem (Belgium) and died in Rome, was a Belgian Jesuit priest, elected the twenty-second Superior-General of the Socie ...

, Superior-General of the Society of Jesus, proposed to appoint O'Reilly as Professor of Theology at the Roman College. However, circumstances, which were unrelated to O'Reilly, prevent the appointment. O'Reilly was the

Rector Rector (Latin for the member of a vessel's crew who steers) may refer to: Style or title *Rector (ecclesiastical), a cleric who functions as an administrative leader in some Christian denominations *Rector (academia), a senior official in an edu ...

of a house of spiritual exercises at Milltown Park near

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

, and Provincial of Ireland from 1863 to 1870. At a conference held regarding the philosophical and theological studies in the Society of Jesus, O'Reilly was chosen to represent all the English-speaking "provinces" of the Society (Ireland, England, Maryland, and the other divisions of the United States). He was constantly consulted on

theological Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...

questions by the bishops and priests of Ireland. These bishops chose O'Reilly as their theologian: Cardinal Paul Cullen, then Bishop of Armagh, at the Synod of Thurles in 1850; Doctor

James Brown James Joseph Brown (May 3, 1933 – December 25, 2006) was an American singer, dancer, musician, record producer and bandleader. The central progenitor of funk music and a major figure of 20th century music, he is often referred to by the honor ...

, Bishop of Shrewsbury, at the Synod of Shrewsbury; and Doctor Thomas Furlong, Bishop of Ferns and O'Reilly's former colleague as Professor of Theology at Maynooth, at the Synod of Maynooth.

Cardinal Cardinal or The Cardinal may refer to: Animals * Cardinal (bird) or Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **''Cardinalis'', genus of cardinal in the family Cardinalidae **''Cardinalis cardinalis'', or northern cardinal, the ...

John Henry Newman John Henry Newman (21 February 1801 – 11 August 1890) was an English theologian, academic, intellectual, philosopher, polymath, historian, writer, scholar and poet, first as an Anglican ministry, Anglican priest and later as a Catholi ...

in his famous ''

Letter to the Duke of Norfolk ''Letter to the Duke of Norfolk'' is a book written in 1875 by St John Henry Newman. Consisting of about 150 pages, it was meant as a response to Protestant-Catholic polemics that had emerged in the era of the First Vatican Council. In the book, N ...

'' calls O'Reilly "a great authority" and "one of the first theologians of the day". O'Reilly's chief work was ''The Relations of the Church to Society''. He died in

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

, United Kingdom, on 10 November 1878.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Oreilly, Edmund 1811 births 1878 deaths 19th-century Irish Roman Catholic theologians People educated at Clongowes Wood College Alumni of St Patrick's College, Maynooth 19th-century Irish Jesuits