Rev Dr Ian Ker RIP

It was with great sadness that Blackfriars learned of the death of Rev Dr Ian Ker, who died on 5 November 2022. Fr Ian was widely regarded as the leading authority on the life and works of St John Henry Newman and was a Senior Research Fellow at Blackfriars Hall, Oxford.

More than any other scholar of recent times, Fr Ian brought the work of Newman to the attention of the academy and of the general public. He was a prolific writer. Among his many publications were: John Henry Newman: A Biography (OUP, 1988); G.K. Chesterton:  A Biography (OUP, 2011); and Newman on Vatican II (OUP, 2014). He was also co-editor of The Cambridge Companion to Newman (CUP, 2009), contributing the chapter ‘The Church as Communion’.

Fr Ian was a convert to Catholicism and was in time ordained priest. He taught in universities in both the UK and the US. In later years, Fr Ian became Parish Priest of the Church of SS Thomas More and John Fisher at Burford in the Cotswolds. During this time he combined academic pursuits and pastoral work. He was also able to contribute to the life of Blackfriars and of the Faculty of Theology and Religion at the University of Oxford.

The current flourishing of Newman studies owes a great deal to Fr Ian. He will be greatly missed.

Requiem æternam dona ei, Domine. Et lux perpetua luceat ei. Requiescat in pace.