Charles Theodore Murr

Rev. Charles Theodore Murr is a Roman Catholic priest and author.

Career History

On May 13, 1977, in the Basilica of SS. Giovanni e Paulo (Monte Celio), Charles Theodore Murr was ordained a Roman Catholic priest.

In 1979, Murr put aside doctoral studies for a one year teaching assignment in Mexico. Once there, he began taking in abandoned children, first two from the streets, second two from jail. Before long, the young professor of Theology had five girls and twelve boys in his care, all living in a small rented house on the outskirts of town. When the academic year ended, and it was time to return to Rome, the obvious question remained: And the children?

Postponing studies for one more year, and declining an appointment to the Vatican diplomatic academy, Murr remained in Mexico to build his children a permanent home. For them and hundreds more to follow, he founded Casa Hogar Villa Francisco Javier Nuño y Guerrero, about 40 miles outside Guadalajara. Completing construction, however, would not take one additional year, as he had mistakenly believed, but six.

Besides providing everything for an ever-growing number of children, Murr acquired the land, raised the necessary funds, designed the building complex, set up two corporations (both American and Mexican), assembled his own 20-man construction company, and directed the building of his home for orphaned boys and girls. In 1987, he bought an empty lot across the street from the orphanage, and built Boulangerie Saint-Joseph. In 1988, adjacent to the bakery, he built L’Eau Vive, a French restaurant. Both were to help his orphanage become more financially self-sufficient. Also in 1987, foundress Gianfranca Casadei solicited him to co-found (i.e., take on moral, legal, and all financial responsibilities) a congregation of women religious. Le Poverelle Del Crocefisso would care for and educate only the poorest children of the world, his own, of course, being first on the list. In 1992, Murr completed Rancho Arcangel Miguel, a 40 acre working farm, to help with food production (meat, vegetables, dairy, etc.) for the 170 people in his daily care.

From September of 1992, Murr and Cardinal Juan Posadas, Archbishop of Guadalajara, collaborated closely in an investigation of major consequence, both civil and ecclesial. On May 23, 1993, Cardinal Posadas delivered the investigation’s results in a specially convoked chancellery meeting. Two hours later, with 14 bullets to his torso, and point-blank coup de grâce to his head, Cardinal Posadas was assassinated in a savage bloodbath.

That same night, Cardinal John O’Connor responded to the Vatican’s request, and called Murr to New York at once.

From New York City, Murr continued financial support of his children in Mexico. He established a scholarship program in 1994, to provide higher education to them and other underprivileged youth in the central Mexican region he left behind, his beloved Altos de Jalisco.

Between 1995 and 2005, Murr was administrator and pastor of two Manhattan parishes: Guadalupe (West 14th Street), and Saint Francis de Sales (East 96th Street). He also oversaw the education of more than 650 children (per annum) in two grade schools (K-8), a responsibility he took most seriously. On September 11, 2001, Murr rushed from his W. 14th Street residence to nearby St. Vincent’s Hospital. From that day, and for many months thereafter, he remained active in governmental and ecclesial emergency relief efforts for victims, friends and family members of victims, as well as for traumatized fellow New Yorkers.

Present History In 2005, Murr left New York City and moved to Salzburg, Austria, where he lives and works today.Years before, author Malachi Martin not only encouraged Murr to write, but helped edit his first novel, calling The Society Of Judas an amazing story, on a par with [Graham] Greene’s, The Power And The Glory. Likewise, other authors, former professors, and friends old and new, encouraged him to continue writing. Presently immersed in a trilogy: Merl Of Letourneaux, The Unkindess Of Ravens, and Menagerie à Trois: The Absence of Envy, Murr finds writing as gratifying as it is challenging.

In contact with many of his now grown-up Mexican children, he proudly boasts being spiritual grandfather to over 300 and great-grandfather to at least five.

Writings

The Why And Wherefore Of Sor Jorge, 2002, profile and biographical narrative, 82 pages (originally presented for graduate seminar: Psychopathology; Prof. Robert Pierro, NYU, Autumn, 1999).

Ramiro Suarez Torre (1947-1987): Bueno Y Martir; Lo que sus Asesinos, Jeronimo Prigione, y Carlos Salinas, Temian en Comun, 1989, article, 4 pages.

De Amicitia: Verso Una Filosofia dell’Amore Umano, (Thesis; S. Biolo, s.j., Pontificia Università Gregoriana, Roma, 1977).

Dyadic Interpersonalism: Intersubjectivity in the Writings of Phenomenologist Maurice Nedoncelle (Thesis; Drs. B. Cohen and P. Vitz, NYU, NY, 2001).

Missa “Romanus Romae”: Mass Composed for Organ and Three Voices. Performed by the Sistine Chapel Choir, under the direction of Msgr. Domenico Bartolucci; Capella Borghese, Basilica Santa Maria Maggiore, Roma, Italia, 14/V/1977.