George Henry Christen Duggan (3 July 1912 – 16 December 2012) was a

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

Marist priest, philosopher, seminary professor and writer. He was popularly known as Chalky Duggan - after a featherweight boxer who fought in 1919, when Duggan was 7 years old, under the name "Chalky Duggan" and who, like Duggan, came from RunangaTim Donoghue, "Priest vigorously defended religious ideals with letter writing", ''The Dominion Post'', 5 January 2013, pg. B6.

Early life

He was born in Runanga and was educated by the

Marist Brothers The Marist Brothers of the Schools, commonly known as simply the Marist Brothers, is an international community of Catholic religious institute of brothers. In 1817, St. Marcellin Champagnat, a Marist priest from France, founded the Marist Brother ...

Greymouth Greymouth () (Māori: ''Māwhera'') is the largest town in the West Coast region in the South Island of New Zealand, and the seat of the Grey District Council. The population of the whole Grey District is , which accounts for % of the West Coas ...

and by the

Sisters of Mercy The Sisters of Mercy is a religious institute of Catholic women founded in 1831 in Dublin, Ireland, by Catherine McAuley. As of 2019, the institute had about 6200 sisters worldwide, organized into a number of independent congregations. They a ...

Reefton Reefton is a small town in the West Coast region of New Zealand, some 80 km northeast of Greymouth, in the Inangahua River valley. Ahaura is 44 km south-west of Reefton, Inangahua Junction is 34 km to the north, Maruia is 63 ...

. He received his secondary education from the Marist fathers at

St Bede's College, Christchurch St. Bede's College is a state integrated Roman Catholic day and boarding school in Christchurch, New Zealand, for boys aged 12 (Year 9) to 18 (Year 13). St. Bede's is the oldest Roman Catholic Boys' College in New Zealand's South Island. It is ...

, of which he was dux two years in a row. Duggan then went to Greenmeadows Seminary in

Hawkes Bay Hawke's Bay ( mi, Te Matau-a-Māui) is a local government region on the east coast of New Zealand's North Island. The region's name derives from Hawke Bay, which was named by Captain James Cook in honour of Admiral Edward Hawke. The region is ...

Hawke's Bay Hawke's Bay ( mi, Te Matau-a-Māui) is a local government region on the east coast of New Zealand's North Island. The region's name derives from Hawke Bay, which was named by Captain James Cook in honour of Admiral Edward Hawke. The region is ...

, where he was professed as a member of the Marist order on 4 February 1931, the day after the

1931 Hawke's Bay earthquake Events January * January 2 – South Dakota native Ernest Lawrence invents the cyclotron, used to accelerate particles to study nuclear physics. * January 4 – German pilot Elly Beinhorn begins her flight to Africa. * January 22 – Si ...

Training

In 1933 Duggan was sent to Rome to continue his theological studies. He was an

alumnus Alumni (singular: alumnus (masculine) or alumna (feminine)) are former students of a school, college, or university who have either attended or graduated in some fashion from the institution. The feminine plural alumnae is sometimes used for grou ...

of the Pontifical University of St Thomas Aquinas (''the Angelicum'') of the Dominicans. He was ordained a Catholic priest in Rome on 7 March 1936, the

feast day The calendar of saints is the traditional Christian method of organizing a liturgical year by associating each day with one or more saints and referring to the day as the feast day or feast of said saint. The word "feast" in this context d ...

St Thomas Aquinas Thomas Aquinas, OP (; it, Tommaso d'Aquino, lit=Thomas of Aquino; 1225 – 7 March 1274) was an Italian Dominican friar and priest who was an influential philosopher, theologian and jurist in the tradition of scholasticism; he is known wit ...

. In 1937, he completed his theology studies. His doctoral thesis was on ''The Church in the Writing of St John Fisher''.

Academic career and contribution

In 1938 Duggan returned to New Zealand and joined the seminary staff at Mount St Mary's, Greenmeadows to teach philosophy to aspirant Marists. His lifelong philosophic position was his dedication to

Thomistic philosophy Thomism is the philosophical and theological school that arose as a legacy of the work and thought of Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274), the Dominican philosopher, theologian, and Doctor of the Church. In philosophy, Aquinas' disputed questions ...

which he stated was, "the one philosophy that can integrate the wisdom of the past with the facts of modern science". He published several books and also worked in various colleges and parishes throughout New Zealand. He achieved public fame through his books and, especially after his retirement from teaching and from priestly ministry, for his numerous letters to the editor in newspaper and journal columns to defend the traditional position of the Catholic Church in relation to many issues. A Wellington journalist one described Duggan as "chief among the divine publicists".

Bibliography

* ''Evolution and Philosophy'', AH & AW Reed, Wellington, 1949. * ''Hans Kung and Reunion'', Mercier Press, 1964. * ''Teilhardism and the Faith'', 1969.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Duggan, George Henry 1912 births 2012 deaths 21st-century New Zealand Roman Catholic theologians New Zealand people of Irish descent People educated at St Bede's College, Christchurch People from the West Coast, New Zealand New Zealand Roman Catholic priests New Zealand philosophers Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas alumni 20th-century New Zealand Roman Catholic theologians New Zealand centenarians Men centenarians People educated at John Paul II High School, Greymouth People from Greymouth

Early life

Training

Academic career and contribution

Bibliography

See also

Notes