Reginald C. Fuller

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Reginald Cuthbert Fuller (12 September 1908 – 21 April 2011)

biblical scholar and honorary Canon of Westminster Cathedral.[8] He celebrated his 100th birthday in 2008.[9]

Born in London, he contributed significantly to the advancement of Catholic life and

Deuterocanonical Books, on which he contributed articles to three major Biblical Commentaries (see "Publications" below), and the life and works of Alexander Geddes, a pioneer of biblical criticism, on which he wrote his doctoral thesis (see "Publications" below).[10]

Education

Initially Fuller's parents, the physician and medical author Arthur William Fuller and Florence Margaret Fuller (née Montgomery), of St John's Wood, London, sent their son to Ealing Priory School (subsequently renamed St Benedict's School) where he happened to share classes and hone his Latin skills in competition with a younger pupil, later also a New Testament scholar, John Bernard Orchard, who would be Fuller's colleague on a number of academic projects. Recognizing their son's academic potential, the parents then decided upon a move to Cardinal Vaughan School, before sending him for the final years of his schooling to Ampleforth College.

Seminary and academic studies

Fuller attended seminary studies at

Cambridge University
during the years 1964–1968 lead to the award of a PhD.

Pastoral appointments

At various times during 1950–1994 Father Fuller held pastoral appointments in the Archdiocese of Westminster. He served as Rector of the Church and Shrine of Our Lady of the Assumption and St Gregory, Warwick Street, London W1B 5LZ ("Warwick Street Church")[11] (1950–1963),[12] as Chaplain at Westminster Cathedral (1976–1978), and as Rector of the Church of the Blessed Sacrament, Islington (1978–1983). After his retirement he served as Assistant Priest at the Church of St Mellitus, Tollington Park, London (1983–1990 (where on one occasion in the sacristy he was attacked by intruders and hit over the head with a crucifix but suffered no lasting injury), and at the Church of Our Lady and St Joseph, Poplar, London (1990–1994). Thereafter he took up residence at Clergy House at Westminster Cathedral, regularly hearing Confessions at the Cathedral and helping with occasional exhibitions. In 2003 he moved to Nazareth House, where on request he continued to provide spiritual guidance to his visitors on an individual basis.[13]

Teaching appointments

Fuller was lecturer in

Victoria Falls
in Zimbabwe.

Other professional activities

From 1949 to 1990 Fuller was a member of the Society of Old Testament Studies (SOTS). Among his involvement in major professional projects was the co-founding of the Catholic Biblical Association of Great Britain, of which he then was Hon. Secretary from 1940 to 1965 and chairman from 1968 to 1982. As representative of the association, he acted in 1963 as promoter of a revised English spelling of biblical names for Catholic use before the Conference of Bishops of England and Wales (e.g. Noah, Elijah, Joshua, in place of Noe, Elias, Josue as found in the Douay-Challoner Bible, based on the Latin text).

Fuller was invited by Dom

the Second Vatican Council
– required an updating of the commentary, he was general editor of its second edition, entitled A New Catholic Commentary on Holy Scripture (1969).

He was, moreover, co-editor of the first complete Bible translation in modern English for Catholics from the Hebrew and Greek, entitled The Holy Bible – Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (1966), and its ecumenical counterpart, The Common Bible (1973). He was a member of the Revised Standard Version Bible Committee from 1969 to 1980 and of the Joint Committee on the Revised English Bible from 1979 to 1989. From 1946 to 1953 he was the editor of the quarterly journal, Scripture.

Publications

In addition to many articles

Deuterocanonical Books for A Catholic Commentary on Holy Scripture (1953), A New Catholic Commentary on Holy Scripture (1966), and International Catholic Bible Commentary (1996), and the articles "Alexander Geddes
, 1737–1802" and "Mythology and Biblical Studies to 1800" for Dictionary of Biblical Interpretation (1999).

His PhD thesis was published in 1984 under the title Alexander Geddes: A Pioneer of Biblical Criticism, 1737–1802.

He outlined the history of the Church and Shrine of Our Lady of the Assumption and St Gregory, better known as "Warwick Street Church", where he had been a Rector from 1950 to 1963, in a small illustrated book entitled Steadfast in Loyalty – Warwick Street Church – A Short History and Guide (1956, 1973).[15]

His friendship with

, see pp. 7–14, 80).

References

  • Who's Who in Catholic Life (2005)