In Memoriam: Fr John ("Jack") Mahoney SJ

Jack Mahoney was a noted Jesuit moral theologian, whose D'Arcy Lectures at Campion Hall were later published as The Making of Moral Theology, which became a significant work in the reform of Catholic moral theology following the Second Vatican Council. In the Oxford Handbook of Theological Ethics it was named as one of seven 'Books that Shape the Field', and was reviewed there by James Keenan SJ. He was known for his research in a number of different fields of moral and social ethics, in particular for his pioneering work in the early years of Business Ethics. He is noted for his deeply theological reading of Thomas Aquinas's ethical thought, notably in his final book, The Holy Spirit and Moral Action (Georgetown University Press, 2021).

Jack was born in Coatbridge in Lanarkshire, Scotland, on 14th January 1931, and was educated at Our Lady's High School in Motherwell, moving to St Aloysius College in Glasgow when he was 16. He then took an MA in English Literature and Latin at Glasgow University before entering the novitiate in Harlaxton in 1951. After taking his First Vows there he moved to Heythrop in Oxfordshire for two years of philosophy studies, moving to Manresa in Roehampton for a third year. Regency at Mount St Mary's followed, teaching Latin and mathematics. In 1959 he returned to Heythrop for his theology studies, and was ordained in Coatbridge in 1962. The following year he made his tertianship in Auriesville, New York. After tertianship he studied for a licentiate in moral theology at the Gregorian in Rome, returning to teach the subject at Heythrop in 1966, and becoming Dean of the theology department there three years later. 

He moved with Heythrop to London in 1970 as Vice-Principal, also working as Superior of Briant House in Wimbledon from 1972. In 1974 he was appointed to the International Theological Commission, a position he held until 1980. Between 1976 and 1981 he served as Principal of Heythrop, also being appointed as the Superior of the Heythrop community in Cavendish Square for the last three of those years. It was at a Sabbatical at Campion Hall that he delivered the D'Arcy Lectures, later published as The Making of Moral Theology, which became a significant work in the reform of Catholic moral theology. He again taught at Heythrop until 1986, and then became the FD Maurice Professor of Moral and Social Theology at King's College, London. 

Between 1993 and 1998 he taught business ethics at the London Business School, then moved to Edinburgh as Director of the Lauriston Centre for Adult Theological Education, and teaching at Edinburgh University, and later at St Andrews. From 2005 he was back in London as senior research associate director of the Heythrop Institute for Religion, Ethics and Public Life. In 2008 he went to teach at Georgetown University, but ill-health brought him back to the Province, living as a writer in Mount Street and then assisting in the parish in Edinburgh. Between 2014 and 2018 he was again at Campion Hall, Oxford, and remained an Honorary Fellow until his death in Boscombe

Jack was a prolific, and sometimes controversial, writer, completing at least nine books and many more articles. He co-edited Chaplains' Weekly from 2017 until shortly before his death.

Requiescat in pace.