LIVES REMEMBERED

Fr John FitzGerald, Carmelite friar, poet, philosopher and lover of the Welsh language, was born on February 3,1927. He died on November 2S, 2007, aged 80 Michael John FitzGerald was born in Ludlow on the Welsh border. As a teenager he came to know the Carmelites at Aberystwyth. It was there that he met Saunders Lewis, one of the founding fathers of Welsh nationalism.
In 1943 he made his profession as a Carmelite friar in Dublin, taking the religious name John of the Cross. He began studies at University College Dublin, where he combined an enthusiasm for the classics with Celtic Studies. He went on to study theology at the Jesuit Faculty at Milltown Park in Dublin and then the Gregorian University in Rome.
He was ordained a priest in 1951 and continued his enthusiasm for Greek philosophy with valuable years at Christ's College, Cambridge. He could well have settled there but his superiors called hirn to work in Wales and so for the next half-century and more Wales would be his home in every sense.
From 1958 Fr FitzGerald was prior of the Carmelite house of studies at Llandeilo. For a decade he helped form young friars in their religious commitment and introduced them to philosophy. He was also responsible for the pastoral care of the local Catholic community. Fr FitzGerald was an inspirational philosophy teacher with a love of the pre-Socratics; he encouraged his students to read widely and to be challenged. This was also the time when Fr FitzGerald began to immerse himself in the Welsh language, earning the respect of the local community and supporting and enhancing the position of Welsh-speaking Catholics.
In the late 1960s Fr FitzGerald moved to Aberystwyth, where the Catmelite community was responsible for St Mary's College (which specialised in nurturing late vocations to the priesthood) and caring for the Catholic parish and the chaplaincy at the University of Wales.
Fr FitzGerald was to stay in Aberystwyth until 2004, lecturing in the university, and then in retirement acting as chaplain and also being involved in parish life.
The years in Aberystwyth were when Fr FitzGerald's gifts flourished. He translated Descartes into Welsh and also Aristotle's Ethics. He helped translate the Catholic liturgy into Welsh and was involved in an ecumenical translation of the Bible. He was a regular contributor to radio and television. He was so much part of the community's life that when the local Welsh Baptist Chapel was without a minister Fr FitzGerald was invited to preach and help sustain the chapel.
He found a gift for poetry and became involved with the National Eisteddfod, earning great respect among the bards. A book of his poetry in Welsh, Grown Gwirionedd, was long-listed for the Book of the Year Award of the Welsh Assembly in 2007. His commentary on the Letter to the Hebrews, originally written in Welsh, was translated into English and published in 2005 as the Lenten reading recommended by the Catholic Bishops of Wales.
From 2002 to 2004 Fr FitzGerald combined the office of university chaplain with that of prior of his community. In 2004, when the Carmelites transferred from Aberystwyth to Llanelli, he continued as prior.
Enjoying discussion and debate with students and colleagues, Fr FitzGerald also developed an enthusiasm for the Basque language and the Basque country. He saw similarities between Welsh and Basque as minority cultures surviving against the mainstream. In the last few years he became involved with cultural exchange visits between Wales and the Basque country. Fr FitzGerald never seemed to age. At 80 he was tall, spare and had a youthful way. He delighted in the intemet and continued to enjoy working with young people. Whenever he came into a room others could feel the zest, energy and joie de vivre. At the heart of his life was his faith and a deep contemplative spirit.
His patron saint was John of the Cross. Carmelite poet and mystic, and it would be true to say that, like his namesake, John's poetry was often the expression of deep spiritual experience.
The Carmelite friars and his two surviving sisters mourn a very human brother, and many in Wales will miss his creative presence.