29 April 1969 – 16 April 2024
Catholic Theological College, University of Divinity is deeply saddened by the sudden and unexpected passing of our colleague, teacher and friend, Dr Christopher William Morris, who died on Tuesday 16 April 2024. Chris’ recent positions at CTC have been Senior Lecturer in Christian Spirituality and Head of Department of Pastoral and Spiritual Care.
After some years’ teaching in Catholic secondary schools, Chris worked as a curriculum advisor with the Catholic Education Office Melbourne. In 2014 he joined the CTC faculty, lecturing in the field of Christian Spirituality while completing his doctoral dissertation entitled The Cross Now Rooted Breaks In Bloom: A Study of Bruno Barnhart’s Wisdom Knowing and Wholeness in Christian Life. Chris was nominated a Vice-Chancellor’s Scholar in his graduating class of 2021. Working closely with the late Rev Professor Austin Cooper OMI, Chris began coordinating the Christian Spirituality courses at CTC, as well as the Graduate Certificate in Teaching Meditation, a program developed in conjunction with Catholic Education agencies to assist teachers in the nurturing of students’ spiritual life.
Chris was a transformational educator, whose impact on faculty colleagues and students will be long remembered. He had a passion for all dimensions of Christian spirituality, its history, practice, experience, artistic and cultural expression. And he was highly skilled in leading others into a new appreciation of their personal spiritual dimension as well as the rich resources of spiritual life to be found in the Christian tradition. Chris was developing research interests arising from his doctoral work on wisdom traditions and the relationship between Christian meditation and mindfulness, and had recently worked on the intersection of trauma studies and spirituality.
Chris served on many committees and panels of CTC and the University of Divinity. He was a member of the CTC Academic Board for several years. He has contributed to University panels on Supervised Theological Field Education, on Wellbeing and Flourishing, and the development of spiritual care awards. He is a fondly-regarded colleague across the colleges and schools of the University and beyond.
Chris was a Board Member of the International Relations Committee of the Society for the Study of Christian Spirituality, a Member of the Society for the Study of Christian Spirituality, a Member of Meditation Association of Australia. His long involvement in Christian meditation circles has led to many close friendships in various communities, including the Sancta Sophia Meditation Community in Melbourne.
The Senate, staff and students of Catholic Theological College, and the entire community of the University of Divinity, extend our profound sympathy and prayerful support to Chris’ wife, Louise, his beloved daughters Evie and Agatha, and his siblings Liz, Stephen (deceased), John, Jane, Pauline, Margie and Tom and their families. We will deeply miss Chris’ personal and academic presence, his creativity and enthusiasm, his care and humour.
CTC is committed to the highest standards of teaching and research in philosophy and theology, within the Catholic tradition. It collaborates in the Church’s mission to spread the Gospel, and provides academic formation for people committed to the pastoral service of the Church.
University of Divinity
I was deeply saddened and taken aback by Chris’ unexpected death. We met at an international Society for the Study of Christian Spirituality (SSCS) conference in Zurich in 2017 and got on well together. Following that meeting I nominated him for membership of the International Relations Committee of SSCS (of which I was a founding member). Our contact after that was online as I am in Ireland. But we met again in person in Adelaide where he was a member of the SSCS international conference that took place there in July 2023 and where I participated as the then VP of the Society. Speaking now as President of SSCS I want to express the gratitude and appreciation of our Society for the great work Chris was doing to advance the study and practice of spirituality as a relatively new discipline in university settings. It was wonderful to know the great work he was doing in Australia and he will be sadly missed. My first act on becoming President of SSCS in San Antonio in November 2023 was to ask the members at our annual meeting in person there to pray in silence for Austin Cooper whom I had come to know more about during my stay in Australia. Chris had stepped into Austin’s shoes as a very worthy successor and those of us in the field of Christian spirituality in higher education settings looked forward to the ways he would advance the discipline in Australia and beyond. I extend my deepest sympathy from across the miles in Ireland to Louise, and their beloved daughters, Evie and Agatha, and to Chris’ siblings and their families, and his many friends and colleagues. You are in our hearts, minds, and prayers. I have offered Mass, Louise, for your intentions. May Chris be received by the eternal love of the Risen Christ and may you and your daughters be stengthened by faith, family, and friends at this time of such pain and loss.
Fr Michael O’Sullivan, SJ
I have just read the news of Dr. Chris Morris’s passing. This is a profound loss. I have been fortunate to have been a student under Chris and deeply valued his support, gentleness and remarkable intellect and insight. His loss is deeply felt and saddening. I have felt privileged to have been included in pathway.
Chris’ warm smile and welcoming heart will be deeply missed by me personally, and by our students at Heart of Life who took part in his Teaching Meditation unit at CTC. I loved spending time with Chris: chatting about all things education, spirituality and faith; reminiscing about the best food we’ve eaten; and dreaming about how we might increase the reach of meditation and prayer in the wider community. We have lost a beautiful soul and our hearts feel the sadness. Rest in peace Chris.