Francis X. Murphy

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For other persons named Francis Murphy, see Francis Murphy (disambiguation).

Francis X. Murphy (1915-2002) was a Redemptorist chaplain and theology professor. He is most known for his articles about the Second Vatican Council, published under the pseudonym Xavier Rynne.^[1]

Murphy was born to Irish immigrants in what was then called the Irish Bronx. His father was a policeman. Murphy took Redemptorist vows in 1935 and was ordained a priest in 1940.

He worked as a naval chaplain at Annapolis, Maryland, with Catholic Relief Services in Europe after the Second World War and then as a chaplain with the United States military. Murphy received masters and doctoral degrees from the Catholic University of America.

In 1959 Murphy became a professor of moral theology at Pontifical Lateran University.

Under the psuedonym Xavier Rynne, combining his middle name and his mother's maiden name, he revealed the inner workings of Vatican II to The New Yorker.^[2] He is credited with setting the tone for the popular view of the conclave, depicting it as "conservative" versus "liberal".^[3]

During the 1970s Murphy served as a visiting professor at Princeton University and later was connected with Johns Hopkins University. He then served as rector of Holy Redeemer College in Washington DC. He wrote more than 20 books in his lifetime, under his pseudonym and his own name.^[2]

[edit] Bibliography

John XXIII: The Story of the Pope (1959)
Letters from Vatican City : Vatican Council II, first session : background and debates (1963)
The second session; the debates and decrees of Vatican Council II, September 29 to December 4, 1963 (1964)
The third session; the debates and decrees of Vatican Council II, September 14 to November 21, 1964 (1965)
The fourth session; the debates and decrees of Vatican Council II, September 14 to December 8, 1965 (1966)
The Pilgrim Pope (1979)