Bernard Michael O'Brien (9 December 1907 – 3 January 1982"Jesuit lecturer dies", ''Zealandia'', 17 January 1982, p. 3.) was a Jesuit priest, philosopher, musician (cellist), writer and seminary professor from New Zealand.

Early life

He was born in

Christchurch Christchurch (; ) is the largest city in the South Island and the List of cities in New Zealand, second-largest city by urban area population in New Zealand. Christchurch has an urban population of , and a metropolitan population of over hal ...

, New Zealand and was educated by the

Dominican sisters The Order of Preachers (, abbreviated OP), commonly known as the Dominican Order, is a Catholic mendicant order of pontifical right that was founded in France by a Castilian priest named Dominic de Guzmán. It was approved by Pope Honorius II ...

at St Thomas's Academy, Oamaru and at Christ's College. His father was a surgeon. He had a sister (who later became Sister Monica O'Brien

RSCJ The Society of the Sacred Heart of Jesus (; ), abbreviated RSCJ, is a Catholic centralized religious institute of consecrated life of pontifical right for women established in France by Madeleine Sophie Barat in 1800. History Madeleine Sophi ...

, of Wellington) and two brothers, Arthur and Michael, who remained in Christchurch.

Training

In January 1924, O'Brien commenced his studies as a Jesuit

novice A novice is a person who has entered a religious order and is under probation, before taking vows. A ''novice'' can also refer to a person (or animal e.g. racehorse) who is entering a profession with no prior experience. Religion Buddhism ...

at the Loyola

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 ...

of the

Society of Jesus The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rome. It was founded in 1540 ...

in Sydney, Australia. There and at Riverview College he also advanced his study of Greek. O'Brien obtained his BA at the

National University of Ireland The National University of Ireland (NUI) () is a federal university system of ''constituent universities'' (previously called '' constituent colleges'') and ''recognised colleges'' set up under the Irish Universities Act 1908, and signifi ...

where he also studied music. In 1929, O'Brien went to the Jesuit house of Philosophy at

Pullach Pullach, officially Pullach i. Isartal (, ), is a municipality in the district of Munich (district), Munich in Bavaria in Germany. It lies on the Isar Valley Railway and is served by the S7 (Munich), S 7 line of the Munich S-Bahn, at the Großh ...

, a village just outside

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

where, after learning German, and with many German, Austrian and other students from many countries, he embarked on three years of laborious philosophic studies. The philosophy taught was fundamentally medieval scholasticism, as modified by the sixteenth century Jesuit

Suárez Suárez is a common Spanish surname of Germanic origin, of which Juárez (surname), Juárez is an alternative form. It is widely spread throughout Latin America as a consequence of colonization. In origin it is a Patronymic surname, patronymic me ...

. O'Brien's "best teacher" was Father Alois Maier who promoted

Kant Immanuel Kant (born Emanuel Kant; 22 April 1724 – 12 February 1804) was a German philosopher and one of the central Enlightenment thinkers. Born in Königsberg, Kant's comprehensive and systematic works in epistemology, metaphysics, et ...

. O'Brien made a special study of

Plotinus Plotinus (; , ''Plōtînos''; – 270 CE) was a Greek Platonist philosopher, born and raised in Roman Egypt. Plotinus is regarded by modern scholarship as the founder of Neoplatonism. His teacher was the self-taught philosopher Ammonius ...

in relation to the Psychology of art.

Karl Rahner Karl Rahner (5 March 1904 – 30 March 1984) was a German Jesuits, Jesuit priest and theologian who, alongside Henri de Lubac, Hans Urs von Balthasar, and Yves Congar, is considered to be one of the most influential Catholic theology, Cat ...

was two years ahead of O'Brien but among his companions were

Hans Urs von Balthasar Hans Urs von Balthasar (; 12 August 1905 – 26 June 1988) was a Swiss theologian and Catholic priest who is considered one of the most important Catholic theologians of the 20th century. With Joseph Ratzinger and Henri de Lubac, he founded the th ...

, Joseph Neuner and

Alfred Delp Alfred Friedrich Delp (; 15 September 1907 – 2 February 1945) was a German Jesuit priest and philosopher of the German Resistance. A member of the inner Kreisau Circle resistance group, he is considered a significant figure in Catholic ...

. In 1932, at the end of his philosophy course, O'Brien received

minor orders In Christianity, minor orders are ranks of church ministry. In the Catholic Church, the predominating Latin Church formerly distinguished between the major orders—priest (including bishop), deacon and subdeacon—and four minor orders— acolyt ...

from Cardinal Faulhaber, Archbishop of Munich. He then returned to Sydney and was given the job of coaching young novices who were beginning their university studies. In 1935, O'Brien went to the

Louvain Leuven (, , ), also called Louvain (, , ), is the capital and largest city of the province of Flemish Brabant in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is located about east of Brussels. The municipality itself comprises the sub-municipalities of ...

in Belgium to study Theology. His most important teacher there was

Joseph Maréchal Joseph Maréchal, SJ (; 1 July 1878 – 11 December 1944) was a Belgian Jesuit priest, philosopher, theologian and psychologist. He taught at the Higher Institute of Philosophy of the University of Leuven and was the founder of the school of ...

who combined the "best insights" of

Thomas Aquinas Thomas Aquinas ( ; ; – 7 March 1274) was an Italian Dominican Order, Dominican friar and Catholic priest, priest, the foremost Scholasticism, Scholastic thinker, as well as one of the most influential philosophers and theologians in the W ...

with the transcendental speculations of

. "His teaching set flowing one of the principal streams of present-day Catholic Philosophy and Theology, a stream from which André Marc and

,J.B. Lotz,

Emerich Coreth Emerich Coreth, SJ (10 August 1919 – 1 September 2006) was an Austrian philosopher and Catholic priest. He is well known for his works on metaphysics and philosophical anthropology. A close associate of Karl Rahner, Coreth is a renowned neo ...

and

Bernard Lonergan Bernard Joseph Francis Lonergan (17 December 1904 – 26 November 1984) was a Canadians, Canadian Jesuit priest, philosophy, philosopher, and theology, theologian, regarded by many as one of the most important thinkers of the 20th century. Lone ...

have all drunk". O'Brien read particularly the German theologian and mystic Matthias Scheeben and wrote a theological dissertation on

Friedrich von Hügel Friedrich von Hügel (born ''Friedrich Maria Aloys Franz Karl Freiherr von Hügel'', usually known as ''Baron von Hügel''; 5 May 1852 – 27 January 1925) was an influential Austrian Catholic layman, religious writer, and Christian apologist. A ...

. O'Brien was ordained a priest in 1938 at Louvain and after spending the first few years of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

in Jesuit establishments in England and in Ireland, he returned to Sydney in 1941.

Academic career and contribution

In Australia, O'Brien was appointed to St Patrick's College,

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

to teach boys in 1941. It was there that he published a book on the vocation of a Jesuit priest. In 1942 he was appointed to the Jesuit scholasticate at Watsonia to take care of the university studies of the Jesuit

scholastics Scholasticism was a medieval European philosophical movement or methodology that was the predominant education in Europe from about 1100 to 1700. It is known for employing logically precise analyses and reconciling classical philosophy and C ...

as he had before. On 2 February 1942 he was admitted to his final vows as a Jesuit. In 1943 he was appointed to Corpus Christi College, Werribee (a seminary for the training of secular priests) near Melbourne to lecture in theology. He filled this position until 1949. In late 1947 temporarily and then permanently in 1950 O'Brien was appointed to

Holy Name Seminary Holy Name Seminary was a Roman Catholic seminary staffed by the Society of Jesus which existed in Christchurch, New Zealand from 1947 until 1978. Establishment With Holy Cross College, the New Zealand national major seminary, not taking school ...

in his home town of

. At that time it was a minor seminary with generally 70–90 secondary school age boys boarding there. By 1959, however, the school aspect had been phased out and the seminary was teaching Philosophy to men who had finished secondary school and were in training to be ordained as secular priests. The result of the change for O'Brien was that he then became a Philosophy lecturer and set about preparing courses in

Logic Logic is the study of correct reasoning. It includes both formal and informal logic. Formal logic is the study of deductively valid inferences or logical truths. It examines how conclusions follow from premises based on the structure o ...

and

Theory of Knowledge Epistemology is the branch of philosophy that examines the nature, origin, and limits of knowledge. Also called "the theory of knowledge", it explores different types of knowledge, such as propositional knowledge about facts, practical knowledg ...

and the Philosophy of Being. Philosophy hitherto had been taught at Holy Name in programs of a traditional

Thomist Thomism is the philosophical and theological school which 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, Thomas's disputed questions ...

stamp, whether taught directly from the Catholic textbooks known as "manuals", or from private course notes which represented an updated form of the scholastic system. Even in the 1950s, textbooks were still in Latin, with students expected to know enough of the language to make their way through the three-volume ''Summula Philosophiae Scholasticae'' of J. S. Hickey, or, if this was beyond them, with the simplified "dog Latin" of the ''Manuale Philosophiae ad Usum Seminariorum'' of Giovanni di Napoli.John Owens S.M., "Theological Institutions (New Zealand), Philosophy in" ''A Companion to Philosophy in Australia and New Zealand'', Monash University
(retrieved 14 January 2011) O'Brien, with his broad interests and education, and his colleagues initiated great changes and he gave Philosophy studies at Holy Name Seminary some standing and "twenty years of clergy owe, if not an appreciation for scholarship at least an acceptance of it to him." O'Brien was well remembered by his students especially for his lectures in logic and

metaphysics Metaphysics is the branch of philosophy that examines the basic structure of reality. It is traditionally seen as the study of mind-independent features of the world, but some theorists view it as an inquiry into the conceptual framework of ...

and for his keen interest in music, art and literature. For many years he supervised the choir at Holy Name Seminary.

Later years and wisdom

O'Brien taught at Holy Name Seminary until it was closed in 1979. He then continued at Holy Cross Seminary, Mosgiel where he lectured in literature and Art. In 1980 his health began to fail and he spent some time at Nazareth House (home for the elderly) in Christchurch. He died at the hospice of St John of God in Richmond, New South Wales, on 3 January 1982. O'Brien made a considerable contribution, especially in journals and book reviews, to the Catholic church in New Zealand. He once recalled an occasion when, as a young Jesuit in Australia, he barely escaped drowning. "I came to realise that God might call me in early years. I found that I could renounce life, if God so wished. This was a salutary experience – a deepening one." He also wrote of the knowledge in every field of learning, and of the enormous change in the church since

Vatican II The Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the or , was the 21st and most recent Catholic ecumenical councils, ecumenical council of the Catholic Church. The council met each autumn from 1962 to 1965 in St. Peter's Basilic ...

. "Who can possibly hold that we are simply recalling the stand we took in the past, and adding to it?" He urged that Catholics should adopt what is needed for each new age. "We must learn to react to God's call when it is given, and wait for the time when it is ripe."

Notes

References