Reginald C. Fuller

Reginald Cuthbert Fuller (born 12 September 1908) was ordained as a priest in 1931 by Cardinal Bourne, the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Westminster; [http://www.westminsteryearbook.org.uk/cler/cler_fuller.html] ) and appointed Canon (hon.) of Westminster Cathedral by Cardinal Murphy-O'Connor in 2001. He celebrated his 100th birthday in 2008. [cite web|last = Martin|first = Fiona|title = A Priest for 77 years: 28,000 Masses and 100 years later… |publisher = Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Westminster|date = 2008-09-12| url = http://www.rcdow.org.uk/diocese/default.asp?content_ref=1982|accessdate = 2008-09-13]

Born in London, he contributed significantly to the advancement of Roman Catholic life and ecumenism in England during the 20th century, notably through co-founding the Catholic Biblical Association of Great Britain, his collaboration as an Editorial Committee member of the first one-volume Bible commentary for English-speaking Catholics and his General Editorship of its second edition, and his work as a member of the Revised Standard Version Bible Committee and as Co-Editor of the first complete Bible translation in modern English for Catholics from the Hebrew and the Greek, as well as of its ecumenical edition. His specialist subjects are the Deuterocanonical Books and the life and works of Alexander Geddes, a pioneer of biblical criticism.

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 (the subsequently renamed St Benedict's School) where he happened to share classes and hone his Latin skills in contest with the 20 months younger, the later New Testament scholar and his colleague on a number of major scholarly projects, John Bernard Orchard. Recognizing his academic potential, they then decided to move their son 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 Allen Hall, St Edmund's College, Ware, Hertfordshire from 1926-1931 and was ordained priest by Cardinal Bourne at Westminster Cathedral in 1931. His academic studies at the Dominican University in Rome earned him a SThL in 1933 and a SThD in 1935, and at the Biblical Institute in Rome a SScriptLic in 1934. During 1964-1968 he took up biblical research at Cambridge University and earned a Ph.D.

Pastoral appointments

At various times during 1950-1994 Rev. Fuller held pastoral appointments in the Archdiocese of Westminster. He served as Rector of the Church of Our Lady of the Assumption and St. Gregory, Warwick Street, London (1950-1963), as Chaplain at Westminster Cathedral (1976-1978), and as Rector of the Church of the Blessed Sacrament, Islington (1978-1983). Since 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 in Clergy House at Westminster Cathedral, regularly hearing Confession at the Cathedral and helping with occasional exhibitions. In 2003 he moved to Nazareth House, where on request he continues to provide spiritual guidance to his visitors on an individual basis.

Teaching appointments

Fuller was Lecturer in Biblical Studies at Allen Hall, St Edmund's College, Ware, Hertfordshire from 1936-1949, for the Newman Association from 1950-1954, and at St. Mary's College, Strawberry Hill, Twickenham from 1968-1972. He then spent three years in Kenya as Lecturer in Old Testament Studies at the University of Nairobi from 1972-1975. While there he availed himself of the opportunity to indulge some of his recreational interests and with members of the university staff went mountain climbing and visited Mount Kenya and the Ngorongoro Crater, and admired the wild-life in Serengeti/Tanzania and the Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe.

Other professional activities

From 1949-1990 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 (CBA), of which he then was Hon. Secretary from 1940-1965 and Chairman from 1968-1982. As representative of the CBA he acted in 1963 as Promoter of the English spelling of Biblical names for Catholic use to the Conference of the Bishops of England and Wales (e.g. Noah, Elijah, Joshua, in place of Noe, Elias, Josue as in the Douay-Challoner Bible, based on the Latin text).

Fr Bernard Orchard invited Fr Fuller onto the Editorial Committee of the first one-volume Bible commentary for English-speaking Catholics, entitled A Catholic Commentary on Holy Scripture (1953; [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=99240475] ) and the Diocese entrusted Fuller in 1951 with the office of "Censor Deputatus" for the "Nihil Obstat" in its regard (cf. CHSS, p. iv). When subsequent developments – among them Vatican II and the discovery of the manuscripts in the caves at Qumran – 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 1969-1980 and of the Joint Committee on the Revised English Bible from 1979-1989.

From 1946-1953 he was the Editor of the quarterly journal "Scripture".

Own publications

In addition to many articles and book reviews that Fuller contributed to specialist journals, e.g. "Scripture Bulletin","Priests and People", "The Tablet", he wrote articles on the 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 Ph.D thesis was published in 1984 under the title "Alexander Geddes: A Pioneer of Biblical Criticism, 1737-1802". His friendship with Leonard Cheshire led to his editing a slender volume providing an insight into Cheshire's spiritual resources during his struggle with the effects of motor neurone disease, entitled Crossing the Finishing Line – Last Thoughts of Leonard Cheshire VC (1998).

Although Fuller has made significant contributions to Catholic life and ecumenism in the 20th century, and his recollections are of potential interest at least to future historians of that period, since, now at a great age, he no longer has the necessary facilities and access to secretarial resources, the one book that he now increasingly looks unlikely to write – despite requests from among his audience and his reputation as a raconteur – is his memoirs.

References

*"Who's Who in Catholic Life", (2005)