Saint Patrick's College, Maynooth
Coláiste Phádraig, Má Nuad
Saint Patrick's College
Latin: Collegium Sti Patricii Apud Maynooth
Established	1795
Type	Roman Catholic, Private
President	Monsignor Hugh Connolly D.D.
Undergraduates	250
Postgraduates	80
Other students	120
Location	Maynooth, Republic of Ireland 53°22′49″N 6°35′46″W / 53.3804°N 6.5961°W / 53.3804; -6.5961Coordinates: 53°22′49″N 6°35′46″W / 53.3804°N 6.5961°W / 53.3804; -6.5961
Former names	Royal College of Saint Patrick Maynooth
Nickname	Maynooth College
Affiliations	IFCU[1] NUI (1910-1997), NUIM, Pontifical university, Maryvale Institute, Scotus College, Royal University of Ireland(1882–1909) Catholic University of Ireland(1876-1882)
Website	http://www.maynoothcollege.ie/

St. Patrick's College, Maynooth (Irish: Coláiste Naoimh Phádraig, Maigh Nuad) is the "National Seminary for Ireland" (a Roman Catholic college), and a Pontifical University, located in the village of Maynooth, 15 miles from Dublin, Ireland. The college and seminary are often referred to as Maynooth College. The college was officially established as the Royal College of St Patrick by an Act of Grattan's Parliament in 1795. Mr. Thomas Pelham, the Secretary of State, introduced his Bill for the foundation of a Catholic college, and this was enacted by Parliament.

There are in 2012 approximately 90 men studying for the priesthood at Maynooth: 68 resident seminarians and some non residents. It is now the only major seminary in Ireland. Degrees are awarded by the Pontifical University at Maynooth, which was established by a Pontifical Charter of 1896. The Pontifical Charter entitles the university to grant degrees in canon law, philosophy and theology.

The college is associated with the separate National University of Ireland, Maynooth.

History[link]

The town of Maynooth, Co. Kildare, was the seat of the Fitzgeralds, Earls of Kildare. The ivy-covered tower attached to St Mary's Protestant Church is all that remains of the ancient college of St Mary of Maynooth which was founded and endowed by Gerald, 8th Earl of Kildare, and dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary. In 1518, the 9th Earl presented a petition to the then Archbishop of Dublin (William Rokeby), for a license to found and endow a college at Maynooth: the College of the Blessed Virgin Mary.^[2]

The present college was created in the 1790s against the background of the upheaval during the French Revolution and the gradual removal of the penal laws. Until this time a significant number of Irish Catholic priests were educated on the European continent, particularly in France.

The college was established on 5 June 1795 (35 Geo III, cap. 21) as The Royal College of St Patrick, by act of the Parliament of Ireland, to provide "for the better education of persons professing the popish or Roman Catholic religion". The College in Maynooth was originally established to provide a university education for Catholic lay and ecclesiastical students,^[3] the lay college was based in Riverstown House on the south campus from 1802. With the opening of Clongowes Wood in 1814, the lay college (which had lay trustees)^[4] was closed^[5] and the college functioned solely as a Catholic seminary for almost 150 years.

Ireland's oldest tree, the Silken Thomas Yew, is 700–800 years old.

The college was particularly intended to provide for the education of Catholic priests in Ireland, who until this Act had to go to the continent for training. The added value in this was the reduction of the number of priests returning from training in revolutionary France (with whom Britain was at war) thus hindering potential revolution. The value to the government was proved by the condemnation by the Catholic Church hierarchy of the 1798 rebellion and later support for the Act of Union.

In 1800, John Butler, 12th Baron Dunboyne, died and left a substantial fortune to the College. Butler had been a Roman Catholic, and Bishop of Cork, who had embraced Protestantism in order to marry and guarantee the succession to his hereditary title. However, there were no children to his marriage and it was alleged that he had been reconciled to the Catholic Church at his death. Were this the case, a penal law demanded that the will was invalid and his wealth would pass to his family. Much litigation followed before a negotiated settlement in 1808 that led to the establishment of a Dunboyne scholarship fund.^[6]

The land was donated by William FitzGerald, 2nd Duke of Leinster, who had argued in favour of Catholic Emancipation in the Irish House of Lords. He lived nearby at Carton and also at Leinster House. The building work was paid for by the British Government; parliament continued to give it an annual grant until the Irish Church Act 1869. When this law was passed the College received a capital sum of £369,000. The trustees invested 75% of this in mortgages to Irish landowners at a yield of 4.25% or 4.75% per annum. This would have been considered a secure investment at that time but agitation for land reform and the depression of the 1870s eroded this security. The largest single mortgage was granted to the Earl of Granard. Accumulated losses on these transactions reached £35,000 by 1906.^[7]

The first building to go up on this site was designed by, and named after, John Stoyte; Stoyte House, which can still be seen from the entrance to the old campus, is a well-known building to Maynooth students and stands very close to the very historic Maynooth Castle. Over the next 15 years, the site at Maynooth underwent rapid construction so as to cater for the influx of new students, and the buildings which now border St Joseph's Square (to the rear of Stoyte House) were completed by 1824.

The Rev. Dr. Laurence F. Renehan (1797–1857, a noted antiquarian, church historian, and cleric, served as president of St Patrick's from 1845 until 1857. Under Renehan, many of the college's most important buildings were constructed by Augustus Pugin.^[8]

The museum in Maynooth College contains many items from the college's history, including ecclesiastical artifacts and scientific apparatus such as that of the physicist Nicholas Callan.^[9] Nicholas Callan figure in the study of electromagnetism, inventing the Induction Coil and Maynooth Battery. Callan is buried in the college grounds.

Maynooth Grant[link]

Following the controversy regarding the Maynooth Grant, the College received a higher annual grant from the British Government, as well as a sum for repairs. In 1845, the British government under Robert Peel increased the annual grant to Maynooth College from £9,000 to £26,000, and provided a capital grant of £30,000 for building extensions again. However this was controversial as Roman Catholics saw it as a bribe, while most Protestants were not in favour of the government funding Roman Catholic education.^[10][11] For example the Anti-Maynooth Conference was hosted in London in May 1845 by Conservatives, evangelical Anglicans and the Protestant Association to campaign against the Maynooth Grant.^[12]

Expansion[link]

In 1876 the college became a constituent college of the Catholic University of Ireland, and later offered Royal University of Ireland degrees in arts and science. Even after the granting of the Pontifical Charter in 1896 the college became a recognised college of the National University of Ireland in 1910, and from this time its arts and science degrees were awarded by the National University of Ireland. However during this time the Pontifical University of Maynooth continued to confer its degrees, as theology degrees were prohibited in the Royal University of Ireland, and its successor the National University of Ireland until 1997.

In 1966 after a gap of nearly 150 years lay students entered the college again, these being the members of lay religious orders, and in 1968 all laity where accepted; by 1977 they outnumbered religious students. Finally in 1997 the Universities Act, 1997 was passed by the Oireachtas. Chapter IX of the Act provided for the creation of the separate National University of Ireland, Maynooth. This new university was created from the college's faculties of Arts, Celtic Studies and Philosophy, and Science.

In 1994, W. J. Smyth, BA, PhD, LLD, was appointed to the position of Master of St Patrick's College Maynooth (NUI). In 1997 this position was converted into President of NUIM. After his 10-year term ended in 2004, he was replaced by Professor John Hughes as president of the National University of Ireland, Maynooth.

Timeline[link]

• 1518 - Garret Óg Fitzgerald, Earl of Kildare, founded the College of St Mary, in Maynooth
• 1535 - College of St. Mary confiscated as part of Henry VIII's religious policies
• 1795 - The Royal College of St Patrick established on 5 June 1795 (35 Geo III, cap. 21)
• 1798 - United Irishmen Rebellion, out of 69 students, 18 were expelled for taking the Oath to the United Irishmen
• 1800 - Act of Union 1800 results in the transfer of Maynooth grant from Dublin to London
• 1800 - John Butler, 12th Baron Dunboyne died
• 1801 - First lay college suppressed
• 1802 - Second lay college opens in Riverstown Lodge
• 1808 - Dunboyne Establishment case settled between the Maynooth Trustees and Butler family
• 1817 - Second lay college closed
• 1845 - Maynooth grant increased
• 1847 - The Great Famine
• 1862 - Oath of Allegiance to the British Crown no longer compulsory for students and staff
• 1869-71 - Disestablishment of the Church of Ireland by the British parliament (promoted by Gladstone), Maynooth was disendowed, and the lay trustees left the board.^[13]
• 1876 - Maynooth became a constituent college of the Catholic University of Ireland
• 1880 - Royal University of Ireland founded
• 1896 - Maynooth granted Pontifical University status by Papal Charter from Pope Leo XIII
• 1903 - King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra visited the college on 24 July 1903
• 1908 - National University of Ireland founded
• 1909 - Royal University of Ireland dissolved
• 1910 - St. Patrick's College. Maynooth officially became a recognised college of the National University of Ireland
• 1911 - Coronation Visit of King George V to the Royal College of St Patrick, Maynooth^[14]
• 1937 - Department of Sociology founded^[15]
• 1966 - Lay students in religious orders admitted
• 1968 - All lay students admitted
• 1970 - Department of Biology founded as part of the Faculty of Science
• 1976 - Higher Education Central Applications Office (CAO) founded
• 1987 - Department of Computer Science founded as part of the Faculty of Science
• 1996 - Third level fees abolished by the Irish Government
• 1997 - National University of Ireland, Maynooth founded from the faculties of Science, Arts and Celtic studies, with the faculties of Philosophy, Canon Law and Theology remaining as St. Patrick's College, degrees awarded by the Pontifical University.
• 2011 - Alignment of all Pontifical University of Maynooth academic awards with the National Framework of Qualifications by the NQAI.^[16]

Student activities[link]

Students of Maynooth have participated in a variety of inter-varsity competitions. In 1972 Maynooth entered the Gaelic Football Sigerson Cup for the first time and won it in 1976. They also participate in the Hurling competition, the Fitzgibbon Cup and won it in 1974 and 1974.^{[clarification needed]} The Soccer team competes in the FAI's Collingwood Cup. The College won the inaugural Irish higher education quiz show on RTÉ, Challenging Times (based on University Challenge), winning again in 1992 and as NUIM in 1999.

Emblem[link]

St. Patrick's Flag is used as the emblem of the college, and the flag has flown above Stoyte House, a new logo was used for the build up and since the bicentennial of the college based on the Gothic buildings.

Governance of Maynooth College[link]

From its foundation 1795 Maynooth had been governed by a board of Clerical (the catholic bishops of Ireland) and lay trustees appointed by the government. The lay trustees were prominent Catholic Lords, such as the Earl of Fingall Arthur James Plunkett and the Lord Chancellor of Ireland. One of the side effects of the act to disestablish the Church of Ireland, was that Maynooth's governance and funding changed, leaving only the Bishops on the board of trustees.(Vic., C.25)

Library[link]

The oldest part of the library is the Russell Library, designed by Augustus Welby Pugin and completed in 1861.^[17] The John Paul II Library was opened in 1983 and in November 2010 the construction of a third library building was begun.^[18]

Buildings[link]

The historic buildings of Maynooth.

• Stoyte House - dating from 1780, originally the home of the steward of the Leinster estate.^[19]
• St. Joseph's Square - the square is laid out as a formal garden. The eastern side of the square contains Callan Hall, Physics Hall and Music Hall.
• Dunboyne House - North wing of St. Joseph's Square.
• Humanity House - South wing of St. Joseph's Square.
• New House - completed in 1809 (rebuilt after burning down during the 1940s)
• St. Mary's Square
• St. Mary's
• St. Patrick's
• Russell Library - designed by Augustus Welby Pugin and completed in 1861.^[17]
• Pugin Hall
• Aula Maxima - opened in 1893, was the gift to his Alma Mater of the Right Rev. Mgr. MacMahon of the Catholic University of America in Washington, D. C.
• Riverstown House - used by the lay college from 1801-1817. Now Alumni office for both St. Patrick's College, and NUIM.
• Logic House - Mathematics Department (NUIM) and Mathematical Physics Department (NUIM).
• Rhetoric House - History,Geography and Economic Departments.
• Loftus Halls (usually where examinations take place)
• Columba Centre
• Staff Dining Hall
• Museum - the museum houses many beautiful ecclesiastical and scientific artifacts.
• John Paul II Library - was opened in 1983
• St Mary's (Church of Ireland) - was the chapel for the Fitzgeralds, later incorporated into the outer wall of the College.^[20]

Presidents of Maynooth College[link]

• Reverend Thomas Hussey, DD, FRS (25 June 1795)
• Reverend Peter Flood, DD (17 January 1798)
• Reverend Andrew Dunne, DD (24 February 1803)
• Reverend Patrick Byrne, DD (27 June 1807)
• Reverend Patrick Everard, DD (29 June 1810)
• Most Reverend Daniel Murray, DD (Coadjutor to the Archbishop of Dublin) (29 June 1812)
• Reverend Bartholomew Crotty, DD (13 November 1813)
• Reverend Michael Slattery BA(Dub) (19 June 1832)
• Reverend Michael Montague, DD (25 June 1834)
• Reverend Laurence Renehan, DD (25 June 1845)
• Reverend Charles W Russell, DD (20 October 1857)
• Reverend William J Walsh, DD (22 June 1880)
• Reverend Robert Browne, DD (7 October 1885)
• Rt Reverend Monsignor Denis Gargan, DD(9 October 1894)
• Reverend Daniel Mannix, DD (13 October 1903)
• Rt Reverend John F Hogan, DD (8 October 1912)
• Rt Reverend Monsignor James MacCaffrey, PhD (8 October 1918)
• Rt Reverend Monsignor John D'Alton, MA, DD, DLitt (23 June 1936)
• Rt Reverend Monsignor Edward Kissane, DD, LSS, DLitt, PA (23 June 1942)
• Rt Reverend Monsignor Gerard Mitchell, DD (23 June 1959)
• Rt Reverend Monsignor Patrick Corish, MA, DD (23 November 1967)
• Rt Reverend Monsignor Jeremiah Newman, MA, DPh, LLD (8 October 1968)
• Rt Reverend Monsignor Tomás Ó Fiaich, MA, LicScHist (12 June 1974)
• Rt Reverend Monsignor Michael Olden, BA, BD, DHistEccl (26 September 1977)
• Rt Reverend Monsignor Míceál Ledwith, BA, LPh, DD (13 March1985)
• Rt Reverend Monsignor Matthew O'Donnell, MA, BD, DPh.(22 June 1994)
• Rt Reverend Monsignor Dermot Farrell, BSc, DD (9 December 1996)
• Rt Reverend Monsignor Hugh Connolly, BA, DD (1 September 2007)

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (November 2008)

In its early years, Maynooth was involved in many controversies with the Government, initially over the education of Catholics, then over funding and the influence or otherwise perceived to accrue to being beholden to the English government. Since Irish Independence the converse would be somewhat through as to the influence of Maynooth and its trained clergy in the Irish Society, Maynooth would have been seen as being the venue of power of the clergy since the bishops held their conferences there. The foundation of the NUI also excluded members of Maynooth from its governing body as to limit the control of the Clergy over education.

Oath of Allegiance[link]

As part of the bill on which Maynooth College was founded students and trustees of the college were supposed to take an Oath of Allegiance to the British Crown,^[21] this was part of the reason why some clerical students would not attend since the perceived sponsor by a foreign government, or pledging allegiance to a Protestant Head of state and head of the Anglican church. The Oath which was supposed to be compulsory until 1862, was evaded by many of the students, some feigning sickness, some repeating the words improperly, and others exercising a mental reservation but all treat it lightly.

The college was also technically banned by the British government from admitting a Protestant or son of a Protestant, this was to assure parliament and more ardent Protestants that the college would not be converting Protestants to the catholic faith.^[21]

The Famine[link]

Maynooth College seemed to fare quite well during famine times with only one death reported. The good agricultural land and revenue acquired helped the college, and as a result many ordinary people resented their apparent prosperity whilst most of the country was devastated by potato blight and starvation^{[citation needed]}.

Michael O'Hickey[link]

Irish language activist and scholar Dr. Michael O'Hickey(1860–1916) was dismissed in 1909 from his position as Professor of Irish, for his conduct in the controversy over Irish as a matriculation subject for the new National University of Ireland.^[22] He was supported by such Maynooth figures as College President Daniel Mannix and Professor of Theology Walter McDonald (1854–1920).

In 'An Linn Bhuí' the Irish language journal of Co Waterford, Dr O'Hickey's home county, Mícheál Briody, Lecturer at The Languages Centre, Helsinki University, Finland, shows us that Dr O'Hickey was a prominent member of The Gaelic League and fiercely in favour of compulsory Irish for the new University of Ireland, whereas Dr Mannix who was then President of St Patrick's College, Maynooth, together with most of the Catholic bishops, was opposed. This was the cause of Dr O'Hickey's sacking. As Briody points out, the Senate of the new University one year after Dr O'Hickey's sacking, agreed to Irish being compulsory for matriculation and not long after that Dr Mannix was posted as Archbishop to Melbourne, Australia, against his own will. Mannix however, later became a strong supporter of Irish Republicanism and something of a thorn in the side of the authorities both ecclesiastical and civil, in Australia as well as Britain.^[23]

Current status[link]

Any student of the college, prior to the passing of the Universities Act, 1997, upon whom a degree of the National University of Ireland was conferred is now legally considered to be a graduate of the National University of Ireland, Maynooth. The college continues to share its campus with National University of Ireland, Maynooth but remains a separate legal entity with training in canon law, philosophy and theology and awards the degrees of the Pontifical University and is associated with several other colleges. Pontifical University BAth undergraduate students can take their degree in Theology along with an Arts subject from the National University.

Students of graduate from the NUIM in philosophy can on submittal of a subsequent different thesis can be conferred with a B.Phil by the Pontifical University.^[24]

From October 2011 all academic awards from the Pontifical University of Maynooth are aligned to the Irish National Framework of Qualifications by the NQAI.^[16]

The Graduation ceremony for the conferral of Pontifical University degrees normally takes place during the second week of September each year.

As part of the Erasmus university exchange programme, Saint Patrick's College, Maynooth has bilateral agreements with Faculties of Theology in Belgium, Czech Republic, Finland,^[25] France, Germany, Malta, Portugal, Slovakia, Spain(Salamanca and Switzerland(Freiburg).

In 2011 the college had 68 resident seminarians and a small number of non-resident seminarians travelling in by day for lectures. There are approximately 80 post-graduate students of theology and 250 undergraduate philosophy and theology students who are registered as full time students of the college. Up to 120 further students are registered on courses validated by the college including permanent diaconate programmes and partnership programmes with the National Liturgy Institute, Dominican Biblical Institute Limerick, St. Patrick's College, Thurles, ACCORD, Kairos and others. A further 6 Irish seminarians currently study in St. Malachy's Seminary in Belfast (the only other Catholic seminary in Ireland) and maintain close links with their counterparts in Maynooth.

St. Patrick's College, Maynooth accredits a number of certificate courses at the NUIM Kilkenny Campus at St. Kieran's College, 2011 seen the commencement of a Certificate in Theological Studies^[26] in association with the Catholic Diocese of Ossory.^[27] Since 2010 at the Kilkenny campus a Certificate in Christian Studies^[28] for lay Anglicans, in association with the Church of Ireland Diocese of Cashel and Ossory.^[29]

One of the major events in the college calendar is the annual Christmas carol service in the college chapel, started in 1969 this is a now a joint event between the two universities and seminary.^[30]

Publications[link]

• Maynooth Theological Journal: Biannual Journal of Theological studies.
• The Furrow: founded in 1950, is a monthly journal for the contemporary Church.^[31]
• The Bridge: Biannual magazine for Maynooth and NUIM alumni.
• Kalendarium: Is the annual publication of Maynooth College for the Seminary and Pontifical University.
• Archivium Hibernicum: founded in 1911 is an annual historical journal published by St.Patrick's College, and the Dept. of Modern History, National University of Ireland Maynooth.^[32]
• Irish Theological Quarterly: Quarterly journal of theology, and scripture.^[33]

See also[link]

• Education in the Republic of Ireland
• List of universities in the Republic of Ireland
• Alumni of St Patrick's College, Maynooth

References[link]

Further reading[link]

• Healy, John (1895) Maynooth College; its centenary history. xxiv, 774 p. Dublin: Browne & Nolan

External links[link]

• St Patrick's College - Official web site
• National Seminary - Official web pages
• - Pontifical University, St. Patrick's College, Maynooth academia.edu Research Site.

Thomas Rolland Norris
Norris in 2008
Nickname	Tommy
Born	(1944-01-14) January 14, 1944 (age 68) Jacksonville, Florida
Allegiance	United States of America
Service/branch	United States Navy
Years of service	1967 - 1972
Rank	Lieutenant
Battles/wars	Vietnam War
Awards	Medal of Honor Silver Star Bronze Star (3) Purple Heart
Other work	FBI agent

Thomas Rolland Norris (born January 14, 1944) is a retired United States Navy SEAL who received the Medal of Honor for his ground rescue with the assistance of Petty Officer Third Class Nguyen Van Kiet of two downed pilots in Quang Tri Province, Vietnam on April 10, 1972 – April 13, 1972. At the time of the action, Lieutenant Norris was a SEAL Advisor with the Strategic Technical Directorate Assistance (STDA) Team. The STDA was known as Studies and Observations Group prior to 1971.

Norris was one of three SEALs to receive the Medal of Honor for actions during the Vietnam War.^[1]

Biography[link]

Thomas Norris was born on January 14, 1944 in Jacksonville, Florida. As a youth, he was a member of the Boy Scouts of America and earned Eagle Scout (Boy Scouts of America). He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Sociology with a specialty in criminology from the University of Maryland. While at the University of Maryland, in 1965 and 1966, he was an Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) wrestling champion.^[2] He hoped to join the Navy and fly jets, but he had problems with his visual acuity and depth perception that disqualified him from becoming a pilot. He then became a Navy SEAL. Norris struggled during BUD/S training, and the instructors seriously discussed washing him out of the course.^[3] He graduated from BUD/S Class 45.

Ground rescue operation[link]

Lt. Thomas R. Norris and Petty Officer Third Class Nguyen Van Kiet went behind enemy lines disguised as fishermen in a sampan to rescue Lt.Col Iceal Hambleton. Norris was awarded the Medal of Honor and Nguyen was recognized with the Navy Cross for their actions.

In April 1972, Norris was one of few remaining SEALs in Vietnam. When Lt.Col. Iceal Hambleton was shot down behind enemy lines, aerial combat search and rescue operations failed, leading to the loss of five additional aircraft and the death of 11 or more airmen, two captured, and three more down and needing rescue. Norris was tasked with mounting a ground operation to recover Lt.Col. Hambleton, 1stLt. Mark Clark (the son of World war II General Mark W. Clark), and 1stLt. Bruce Walker from behind enemy lines. Assisted by Vietnamese Sea Commando forces, he and VNN Chief Petty Officer Nguyen Van Kiet went more than 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) behind enemy lines and successfully rescued two of the downed American aviators. Walker was discovered and killed by the NVA. Though he at first rejected the honor, he was recognized with the Medal of Honor in 1975. His actions were dramatized in the movie Bat*21.

Six months later, in October 1972, Norris sustained a near-fatal head wound in combat while protecting forces evacuating to his rear. A South Vietnamese soldier saw his severe head injury and left him, believing that Norris was dead. Fellow Navy SEAL Michael E. Thornton, upon hearing the news, went back intending to recover the body of his fallen comrade, only to discover that Norris was still just barely alive. Thornton was recognized with the Medal of Honor for his actions; he was the first person in more than a century to receive the Medal of Honor for saving the life of another Medal of Honor recipient. Norris received the Medal of Honor from President Gerald R. Ford in a White House ceremony on March 6, 1976.

Tom Norris lost an eye and part of his skull during the combat in which he was rescued by Michael Thornton. As a result of the head injury, he retired from the Navy. He then spent three years recovering from his injuries in the hospital and over a six year period underwent many major surgeries. In 1979, Norris joined the FBI and requested a waiver for his disabilities. FBI director William Webster responded, "If you can pass the same test as anybody else applying for this organization, I will waive your disabilities." In September 1979, Norris passed the test and subsequently served as an FBI agent for 20 years. He was an original member of the FBI's Hostage Rescue Team as an assault team leader.

Medal of Honor citation[link]

Navy Medal of Honor

Citation:

For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while serving as a SEAL Advisor with the Strategic Technical Directorate Assistance Team, Headquarters, U.S. Military Assistance Command, Vietnam. During the period 10 to 13 April 1972, Lieutenant Norris completed an unprecedented ground rescue of two downed pilots deep within heavily controlled enemy territory in Quang Tri Province. Lieutenant Norris, on the night of 10 April, led a five-man patrol through 2,000 meters of heavily controlled enemy territory, located one of the downed pilots at daybreak, and returned to the Forward Operating Base (FOB). On 11 April, after a devastating mortar and rocket attack on the small FOB, Lieutenant Norris led a three man team on two unsuccessful rescue attempts for the second pilot. On the afternoon of the 12th, a Forward Air Controller located the pilot and notified Lieutenant Norris. Dressed in fishermen disguises and using a sampan, Lieutenant Norris and one Vietnamese traveled throughout that night and found the injured pilot at dawn. Covering the pilot with bamboo and vegetation, they began the return journey, successfully evading a North Vietnamese patrol. Approaching the FOB, they came under heavy machine gun fire. Lieutenant Norris called in an air strike which provided suppression fire and a smoke screen, allowing the rescue party to reach the FOB. By his outstanding display of decisive leadership, undaunted courage, and selfless dedication in the face of extreme danger, Lieutenant Norris enhanced the finest traditions of the United States Naval Service.

Honors and recognitions[link]

The Naval Special Warfare Group Two in Little Creek, Virginia is located in the Lt. Thomas R. Norris Building.

Norris' Medal of Honor actions have been re-told in numerous books and in the feature film Bat*21, which was the call sign for a EB-66C from the 42nd Tactical Electronic Warfare Squadron (42 TEWS), 388th Tactical Fighter Wing, at Korat, Thailand. The aircraft was shot down while flying pathfinder escort for a cell of three B-52 bombing near the Demilitarized Zone.

Norris received the Distinguished Eagle Scout Award in 2011. He is one of nine Eagle Scouts who also received the Medal of Honor.^[4]

See also[link]

	Biography portal
	United States Navy portal

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Thomas R. Norris

• List of living Medal of Honor recipients
• List of Medal of Honor recipients for the Vietnam War
• MACV-SOG

Notes[link]

References[link]

• "Thomas R. Norris Medal of Honor citation". http://www.cmohs.org/recipient-detail/3374/norris-thomas-r.php. Retrieved 2010-05-17. 
• "Lieutenant Thomas R. Norris, United States Naval Reserve, Vietnam War Medal of Honor recipients, Naval Historical Center, Department of the Navy". http://www.history.navy.mil/faqs/moh/moh20.htm#norris. Retrieved 2006-07-03. 
• "Stories of Valor: Thomas Norris, American Valor, PBS". http://www.pbs.org/weta/americanvalor/stories/norris.html. Retrieved 2006-07-03. 
• "Interview with Norris at the Pritzker Military Library". http://www.pritzkermilitarylibrary.org/events/2009-01-29-thomas-norris.jsp. Retrieved October 5, 2010. 
• "Amazon.com". http://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/0671020625/. Retrieved October 5, 2010. 

This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page. This biography of a living person needs additional citations for verification. Tagged since June 2011. It relies on references to primary sources or sources affiliated with the subject, rather than references from independent authors and third-party publications. Tagged since June 2011. It may contain original research. Tagged since October 2007. It may contain previously unpublished synthesis of published material that conveys ideas not attributable to the original sources. Tagged since October 2007.

John Dominic Crossan

John Dominic Crossan (born 1934) is an Irish-American New Testament scholar, historian of early Christianity, and former Catholic priest known for co-chairing the Jesus Seminar. Crossan is a major figure in the fields of anthropology of the Ancient Mediterranean and New Testament Studies, particularly in the application of postmodern hermeneutical approaches for the avant-garde Biblical studies journal Semeia.^{[citation needed]} He is also a lecturer who has appeared in television documentaries about Jesus and the Bible. He is a key figure in research into the historical Jesus.^[1]

Life[link]

Crossan was born in Nenagh, Co. Tipperary, Ireland.Though his father was a banker, Crossan was steeped in the rural Irish life, which he experienced through frequent visits to the home of his paternal grandparents. On graduation from St. Eunan's College, a boarding high school, in 1950, Crossan joined the Servites, a Catholic religious order, and moved to the United States. He was trained at Stonebridge Seminary, Lake Bluff, Illinois, then ordained a priest in 1957. Crossan returned to Ireland, where he earned his Doctor of Divinity in 1959 at St. Patrick's College Maynooth, the Irish national seminary. He then completed two more years of study in biblical languages at the Pontifical Biblical Institute in Rome. Thus equipped, he returned to the seminary where he had trained, and through four years of teaching he "first began to learn something about the Bible" as he puts it.^{[citation needed]} In 1965 Crossan embarked on two additional years of study, this time in archaeology based at the Ecole Biblique in Jordanian East Jerusalem. His work led him to journey through many Middle-Eastern countries before escaping just days prior to the outbreak of the Six Day War of 1967.^[2]

After a year at St. Mary of the Lake Seminary in Mundelein, Illinois, and a year at Catholic Theological Union in Chicago, Crossan chose to resign his priesthood. He cited as reasons both a desire for more academic freedom, and the freedom to be bound in matrimony.^{[citation needed]} He married Margaret Dagenais, a professor at Loyola University (Chicago) in the summer of 1969, and joined the faculty of DePaul University that fall, where he taught undergraduates Comparative Religion for twenty-five years until retiring in 1995. His first wife died of a heart attack in 1983. Crossan married Sarah Sexton, a social worker with two grown children, in 1986. Since his academic retirement, Crossan has lived in the Orlando, Florida, area, remaining active in research, writing, and teaching seminars.^{[citation needed]}

Career[link]

Crossan writes books for both academic and popular audiences. His two lengthiest books are The Historical Jesus: The Life of a Mediterranean Jewish Peasant (1991) and The Birth of Christianity: Discovering What Happened Immediately after the Execution of Jesus (1998).

Two of Crossan's briefer popular books are Jesus: A Revolutionary Biography (1994) and Who Killed Jesus? Exposing the Roots of Anti-Semitism in the Gospel Story of the Death of Jesus (1995).

Crossan has also co-authored a book about Jesus and another about Paul with archaeologist Jonathan L. Reed (2001, 2004), which provide contextualization of the lives and times of these two men.

In 1985, Crossan and Robert Funk founded the Jesus Seminar, a group of academics studying a historical Jesus. Crossan served as co-chair of the Jesus Seminar for its first decade. He is also a member of the Society of Biblical Literature (SBL), serving as the President of the Society in 2012.^[3] He is also featured in a number of Living the Questions programs, including "Eclipsing Empire"^[4] and "First Light."^[5]

Views and methodology[link]

Crossan suggests Jesus was an illiterate "Jewish Cynic" from a landless peasant background, initially a follower of John the Baptist.^{[citation needed]} Jesus was a healer and man of great wisdom and courage who taught a message of inclusiveness, tolerance, and liberation. "His strategy . . . was the combination of free healing and common eating . . . that negated the hierarchical and patronal normalcies of Jewish religion and Roman power . . . He was neither broker nor mediator but . . . the announcer that neither should exist between humanity and divinity or humanity and itself."^[6]

Out of his study of cross-attestation and strata of the ancient texts, Crossan asserts that many of the gospel stories of Jesus are not factual, including his "nature miracles", the virgin birth, and the raising of Lazarus.^{[citation needed]} While pointing out the meager attestation and apparent belatedness of the miracles' appearance in the trajectory of the canon, Crossan takes the opposite view, that Jesus was known during earliest Christianity as a powerful magician, which was "a very problematic and controversial phenomenon not only for his enemies but even for his friends," who began washing miracles out of the tradition early on.^{[citation needed]}

Crossan maintains the Gospels were never intended to be taken literally by their authors.^{[citation needed]} He argues that the meaning of the story is the real issue, not whether a particular story about Jesus is history or parable.^{[citation needed]} He proposes that it is historically probable that, like all but one known victim of crucifixion, Jesus' body was scavenged by animals rather than being placed in a tomb.^[7] Crossan believes in vision hypothesis "resurrection" by faith but holds that bodily resuscitation was never contemplated by early Christians.^{[citation needed]} He believes that the rapture is based on a misreading of I Thessalonians.^{[citation needed]}

Central to Crossan's methodology is the dating of texts. This is laid out more or less fully in The Historical Jesus in one of the appendices. He dates part of the Coptic Gospel of Thomas to the 50s CE, as well as the first layer of the hypothetical Q Document (in this he is heavily dependent on the work of John Kloppenborg). He also assigns a portion of the Gospel of Peter, which he calls the "Cross Gospel," to a date preceding the synoptic gospels, the reasoning of which is laid out more fully in The Cross that Spoke: The Origin of the Passion Narratives. He believes the "Cross Gospel" was the forerunner to the passion narratives in the canonical gospels. He does not date the synoptics until the mid to late 70s CE, starting with the Gospel of Mark and ending with Luke in the 90s. As for the Gospel of John, he believes part was constructed at the beginning of the 2nd century CE and another part closer to the middle of the century. Following Rudolf Bultmann, he believes there is an earlier "Signs Source" for John as well. His dating methods and conclusions are quite controversial, particularly regarding the dating of Thomas and the "Cross Gospel."^{[citation needed]} The very early dating of these non-canonical sources has not been accepted by many biblical scholars.^[8]

In God and Empire: Jesus Against Rome, Then and Now (2007), Crossan starts with the presumption of reader familiarity with key points from his earlier work on the nonviolent revolutionary Jesus, his Kingdom movement, and the surrounding matrix of the Roman imperial theological system of religion, war, victory, peace, but discusses them in the broader context of the escalating violence in world politics and popular culture of today. Within that matrix, he points out, early in the book, that "(t)here was a human being in the first century who was called 'Divine,' 'Son of God,' 'God,' and 'God from God,' whose titles were 'Lord,' 'Redeemer,' 'Liberator,' and 'Saviour of the World.'" "(M)ost Christians probably think that those titles were originally created and uniquely applied to Christ. But before Jesus ever existed, all those terms belonged to Caesar Augustus."^[9] Crossan cites the adoption of them by the early Christians to apply to Jesus as denying them of Caesar the Augustus. "They were taking the identity of the Roman emperor and giving it to a Jewish peasant. Either that was a peculiar joke and a very low lampoon, or it was what the Romans called majestas and we call high treason." ^[9] He ends the book asking the question "Is Bible-fed Christian violence supporting or even instigating our imperial violence as the New Roman Empire?"^{[citation needed]}

Bibliography[link]

• Scanning the Sunday Gospel,1966
• The Gospel of Eternal Life, 1967
• In Parables: The Challenge of the Historical Jesus, 1973, reprinted 1992, ISBN 0-06-061606-7
• The Dark Interval: Towards a Theology of Story, 1975, reprinted 1988, ISBN 0-944344-06-2
• Raid on the Articulate: Comic Eschatology in Jesus and Borges, 1976, ISBN 0-06-061607-5
• Finding Is the First Act: Trove Folktales and Jesus' Treasure Parable, 1979 ISBN 0-8006-1509-3
• Cliffs of Fall: Paradox and Polyvalence in the Parables of Jesus, 1980, ISBN 0-8164-0113-6
• A Fragile Craft: The Work of Amos Niven Wilder, 1981, ISBN 0-89130-424-X
• In Fragments: The Aphorisms of Jesus, 1983, ISBN 0-06-061608-3
• Four Other Gospels: Shadows on the Contours of Canon, 1985, reprinted 1992, ISBN 0-86683-959-3
• Sayings Parallels: A Workbook for the Jesus Tradition, 1986, ISBN 0-80062109-3
• The Cross that Spoke: The Origins of the Passion Narrative, 1988, ISBN 0-06-254843-3
• The Historical Jesus: The Life of a Mediterranean Jewish Peasant, 1991, ISBN 0-06-061629-6
• The Essential Jesus: Original Sayings and Earliest Images, 1994, reprinted 1998, ISBN 0-7858-0901-5
• Jesus: A Revolutionary Biography, 1994, ISBN 0-06-061662-8
• Who Killed Jesus? Exposing the Roots of Anti-Semitism in the Gospel Story of the Death of Jesus, 1995, ISBN 0-06-061480-3
• Who Is Jesus? Answers to Your Questions about the Historical Jesus, edited with Richard Watts, 1996, ISBN 0-664-25842-5
• The Birth of Christianity: Discovering What Happened in the Years Immediately After the Execution of Jesus, 1998, ISBN 0-06-061660-1
• Will the Real Jesus Please Stand up?: A Debate between William Lane Craig and John Dominic Crossan, 1999, ISBN 0-8010-2175-8
• The Jesus Controversy: Perspectives in Conflict (Rockwell Lecture Series), with Luke Timothy Johnson, Werner H. Kelber, 1999, ISBN 1-56338-289-X
• A Long Way from Tipperary: A Memoir, 2000, ISBN 0-06-069974-4
• Excavating Jesus: Beneath the Stones, Behind the Texts, with Jonathan L. Reed, 2001, ISBN 0-06-061634-2
• In Search of Paul: How Jesus's Apostle Opposed Rome's Empire with God's Kingdom, with Jonathan L. Reed, 2004, ISBN 0-06-051457-4
• The Last Week: A Day-by-Day Account of Jesus's Final Week in Jerusalem with Marcus J. Borg, HarperSanFrancisco (February 28, 2006) ISBN 978-0-06-084539-1
• God and Empire: Jesus Against Rome, Then and Now, HarperSanFrancisco, 2007, ISBN 978-0-06-084323-6
• The First Paul: Reclaiming the Radical Visionary Behind the Church's Conservative Icon, co-authored with Marcus Borg, 2009; ISBN 0-06-143072-2
• "The Greatest Prayer: Rediscovering the Revolutionary Message of The Lord's Prayer", 2010; ISBN 978-0-06-187567-0

Notes[link]

1. ^ "John Dominic Crossan." Encyclopædia Britannica. 2010. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. 06 Apr. 2010 <http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/144216/John-Dominic-Crossan>.
2. ^ A Long Way from Tipperary: A Memoir (2000)
3. ^ http://www.sbl-site.org/SBLcommittees_Council.aspx
4. ^ http://www.livingthequestions.com/xcart/home.php?cat=376
5. ^ http://www.livingthequestions.com/xcart/home.php?cat=410
6. ^ The Historical Jesus, p 421-22
7. ^ Jesus: A Revolutionary Biography (1994)
8. ^ Theissen, Gerd; Merz, Annette (1998). The historical Jesus: a comprehensive guide. Minneapolis: Fortress Press. ISBN 978-0-8006-3122-2. http://books.google.com/books?id=3ZU97DQMH6UC&pg=PA24&#v=onepage&q=&f=false.  footnote
9. ^ ^{a b} Crossan, John Dominic, God and Empire, 2007, p. 28

External links[link]

• Crossan's website (Promotional)

Matthew Kennedy (born 4 February 1970) is a former Australian rules footballer who played in the Australian Football League (AFL). The son of St Kilda player Des Kennedy, he was recruited from Queensland team, Southport. Kennedy played during the 1990s for both the Brisbane Bears and the Brisbane Lions after the Bears merged with Fitzroy. After 188 games of league football, he retired during the 2001 season, the year Brisbane won the first of their three consecutive flags.

References[link]

• Matthew Kennedy's statistics from AFL Tables
• Holmesby, Russell and Main, Jim (2007). The Encyclopedia of AFL Footballers. 7th ed. Melbourne: Bas Publishing.

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