Fr. Ian Ker (1942-2022) died in Gloucester, early on the morning of November 5, 2023. A former Anglican, he became Roman Catholic and was ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of Birmingham. He was a world authority on St. John Henry Newman on whom he published more than twenty books.

Fr. Ker taught theology at Oxford University and was a senior research fellow at Blackfriars, Oxford and a member of the faculty of theology.

We mourn the loss of Fr. Ker and pray that Our Lord reward him with “the vision of peace” of which St. John Henry Newman wrote. In the coming days, Fr. Peter J. Conley of the Archdiocese of Birmingham will write more about Fr. Ker’s contribution to Newman scholarship and his influence on his own (Fr. Conley’s) work.

Requiescat in pace!

Fr. Ker’s publications included:

John Henry Newman: A Biography (1988); The Catholic Revival in English Literature 1845-1961 (2003); G.K. Chesterton:  A Biography (2011); and Newman on Vatican II (2014); Newman, Councils and Vatican II in Newman and Faith (2004); and Mere Catholicism (2006).

He was also co-editor of The Cambridge Companion to Newman (2009), contributing the chapter ‘The Church as Communion’.