Albert Power SJ (12 November 1870 – 12 October 1948) was a
Roman Catholic
The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...
Jesuit
The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...
priest, academic and author.
He was considered to be one of the best-known Jesuit priests in Australia
and had the nickname "The Mighty Atom".
Biography
Early years
Albert Power was born in Dublin,
Ireland, in 1870. His education started at
Belvedere College
Belvedere College Society of Jesus, S.J. (sometimes St Francis Xavier's College) is a fee-paying voluntary secondary school for boys in Dublin, Ireland.
Formally established in 1832 at Hardwicke Street in north inner city Dublin, the school was ...
, Dublin,
and continued at
Tullabeg College
St Stanislaus College (often called Tullabeg College) was a Jesuit boys boarding school, novitiate and philosophy school, in Tullabeg, Rahan, County Offaly. St Carthage founded a monastery of 800 monks there in 595 before founding his monaster ...
,
County Offaly
County Offaly (; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is part of the Eastern and Midland Region and the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster. It is named after the Ancient Ireland, ancient Kingdom of Uí ...
.
After Tullabeg College he studied at
Milltown Park Theological College,
Dublin.
He was ordained as a Roman Catholic priest in 1906
in 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 ...
.
Career
After his ordination, Power became the director of studies at Riverview College (now called
Saint Ignatius' College, Riverview
Saint Ignatius' College Riverview is an Australian independent single-sex primary and secondary Day school, day and Boarding school, boarding school for boys located in Riverview, New South Wales, Riverview, a small suburb on the Lane Cove Rive ...
) in Sydney for six years (c. 1910).
Power returned to Europe to study philosophy and literature in
Valkenburg Valkenburg means ''falcon castle'' in Dutch and can refer to:
* Valkenburg aan de Geul, a town and municipality in the province of Limburg
** Valkenburg Castle, ruined castle near Valkenburg aan de Geul
* Valkenburg, South Holland, a village in the ...
, Holland. He was there for two years and then returned to Milltown Park Theological College, Dublin, to study the same subjects.
He lectured in theology, Scripture and ecclesiastical history for ten years as the Professor of Sacred Scriptures at Milltown Institute of Theology and Philosophy.
For the latter eight years he was also the rector of the college.
Power returned to Australia in 1919 to become the rector of
Newman College, Melbourne.
The Archbishop of Melbourne, Daniel Mannix, insisted that Power, a classical scholar, was appointed to the role. In a telegram Mannix wrote "Power or nobody."
Upon taking up the role he said that his policy would be "to act in accordance with the great cardinal after whom it was named, and to provide a liberal Christian education".
Power started at Newman College with a "big reputation for scholastic attainments".
At the end of his first year as rector, Power wrote that expenses had not been covered and that they had nothing to pay to the Jesuits.
He held the role of rector of Newman College until 1923.

In 1923 he became the first rector, at the request of Mannix, of
Corpus Christi College, Melbourne
Corpus Christi College is the regional seminary (and theologate) of the Roman Catholic dioceses in Victoria and Tasmania, Australia. The seminary was founded by Daniel Mannix on 25 December 1922, at the Werribee Park Mansion (then the Chirns ...
, when it was founded in the same year.
Retirement
After retiring in 1948 he resided at
Xavier College
Xavier College is a Roman Catholic, day and boarding school predominantly for boys, founded in 1872 by the Society of Jesus, with its main campus located in Kew, an eastern suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Classes started in 1878.
The ...
, Kew, for a number of years.
Death
After Power's death a Solemn Pontificial Requiem Mass was celebrated by Archbishop
Daniel Mannix
Daniel Patrick Mannix (4 March 1864 – 6 November 1963) was an Irish-born Australian Catholic bishop. Mannix was the Archbishop of Melbourne for 46 years and one of the most influential public figures in 20th-century Australia.
Early lif ...
at
St Patrick's Cathedral, Melbourne
The Cathedral Church and Minor Basilica of Saint Patrick (colloquially St Patrick's Cathedral) is the cathedral church of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Melbourne in Victoria, Australia, and seat of its archbishop, currently Peter Comensol ...
. The choir was made up of students from Corpus Christi College.
Under surveillance
On 19 April 1918 a letter was passed between Australian security officials advising the recipient to keep "Power under observation". The letter writer commented that "he
ower
Ower is a hamlet in the New Forest district of Hampshire, England. Its nearest towns are Totton – approximately to the southeast, and Romsey – around to the north-east.
Ower lies on the A36 road northwest of Totton. It lies most ...
is an eloquent speaker, and has great influence" and that "the object of his visit
o Australia
O, or o, is the fifteenth letter and the fourth vowel letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''o'' (pronounced ), p ...
is unknown".
A further letter was written on 13 July 1918 in which the writer supports the rumour that the position of chaplain on-board a troop ship is an "excellent way of taking
Sinn Féin
Sinn Féin ( ; ; ) is an Irish republican and democratic socialist political party active in both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland.
The History of Sinn Féin, original Sinn Féin organisation was founded in 1905 by Arthur Griffit ...
propagandists into the
Commonwealth of Nations
The Commonwealth of Nations, often referred to as the British Commonwealth or simply the Commonwealth, is an International organization, international association of member states of the Commonwealth of Nations, 56 member states, the vast majo ...
".
Father Albert Power Burse
In January 1952, "A Grateful Friend" wrote to the editor of ''The Advocate'' (Melbourne) noting that a burse was being created in memory of Power to educate a priest for the Jesuit Indian Mission.
Albert Power Debating Society
In the 1954 Newman College yearbook
the Albert Power Debating Society is reported as having had large numbers participating in the society. Issues debated included "That Newman should have a moat" and "that the press is worth of its freedom". Perhaps the most engaging debate was with a team of ladies from
St Mary's Hall when the subject was "that it was better to have loved and lost then never to have loved at all".
The Albert Power Debating Society is known to have run between 1927
and 1967
when its activities were reported in the Newman College yearbooks. The society is known to have had problems with numbers of students participating in its activities in 1937 when the annual magazine of the Newman College Students' Club reported that the society had to close for a year.
In 2010 the Albert Power SJ Medallion for Debating was awarded to Tom Litfin and Patrick McDonald.
Publications
Power had a number of books published and wrote pamphlets for the Australian Catholic Truth Society.
Are They All Wrong? publication date unknown.
Six World Problems 1927.
Our Lady's Titles 1928.
Why We Honor St.Joseph 1930.
Plain Reasons For Being a Catholic 1929.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Power, Very Rev. Albert, S.J.
1870 births
1948 deaths
Australian Jesuits
20th-century Irish Jesuits
People educated at Belvedere College
Alumni of Milltown Institute of Theology and Philosophy
Christian clergy from County Dublin
People educated at St Stanislaus College