Thomas M. King


Thomas Mulvihill King, S.J. was a professor of theology at Georgetown University. King entered the Society of Jesus in 1951 after completing undergraduate studies in English at the University of Pittsburgh. As a Jesuit, he undertook further studies at Fordham University and Woodstock College and was ordained a Roman Catholic priest in 1964. After completing a doctorate in theology at the University of Strasbourg in 1968, King began teaching at Georgetown. A member of the American Teilhard Association, he has written or edited several books on Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, including Teilhard's Mysticism of Knowing, Teilhard and the Unity of Knowledge Teilhard de Chardin, The Letters of Teilhard de Chardin and Lucile Swan and Teilhard's Mass. His other works include Sartre and the Sacred, Enchantments: Religion and the Power of the Word, Merton: Mystic at the Center of America and Jung's Four and Some Philosophers. He also wrote the introduction for a new 2004 translation by Sion Cowell of Teilhard's The Divine Milieu.

Impact at Georgetown University

Father King was also well-known among Georgetown students and alumni for offering Mass at 11:15 p.m. each night from Sunday to Friday in Dahlgren Chapel on Georgetown's main campus, a tradition he started in 1969. In 1999, The Hoya, Georgetown's student newspaper, declared King "Georgetown's Man of the Century", noting that "no one has had a more significant presence on campus and effect on students than Father King.". In addition, Father King was presented as third in a series of cover stories regarding Jesuit identity in the Georgetown Voice on September 27, 2001.

Political Positions

In line with Catholic moral teaching, he took a strong stance against abortion and euthanasia and was the co-founder of the University Faculty of Life, a group that seeks to create dialogue on life issues in the academic community. King was also a member of Pax Christi and opposed war and capital punishment, though he stressed the peaceful prevention of conflict over strict pacifism.

Final Days

Fr. King turned 80 on May 9, 2009. Many different groups of friends, colleagues, and former students came together to celebrate his 80th birthday and 40 years of 11:15pm Mass over the months of May and June. On June 23, 2009, King died of heart attack in his bedroom at the Jesuit Residence at Georgetown University in Washington, DC.

Books Written or Edited By King