Thomas Mulvihill King, S.J. (born May 9, 1929 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, died June 23, 2009 in Washington, D.C.) 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 (1981), Teilhard and the Unity of Knowledge (1983) Teilhard de Chardin (1988), The Letters of Teilhard de Chardin and Lucile Swan (1993) and Teilhard's Mass (2005). His other works include Sartre and the Sacred (1974), Enchantments: Religion and the Power of the Word (1989), Merton: Mystic at the Center of America (1992) and Jung's Four and Some Philosophers (1999). He also wrote the introduction for a new 2004 translation by Sion Cowell of Teilhard's The Divine Milieu.
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.
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.
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.
Journal Articles and Book Chapters By Kingmoreless
"Reflection from a Roman Catholic Priest." In Hail Mary and Rhythmic Breathing: A New Way of Praying the Rosary, vii-viii. Mahwah, New Jersey: Paulist Press, 2006.
"Believers and their disbelief." Zygon 42, no. 3 (September 2007): 779-791.
"The Thomas Merton Encyclopedia." Theological Studies 67, no. 4 (December 2006): 931-932.
"God and the Human Future." In Teilhard and the Future of Humanity, 20-28. New York: Fordham University Press, 2006.
"An atheist on the 'compost of Catholicity': remembering Jean-Paul Sartre on his centennial." National Catholic Reporter 41, no. 32 (June 17, 2005): 18.
"Teilhard makes Christianity most exciting thing on block." National Catholic Reporter 41, no. 25 (April 22, 2005): 8-10.
"Teilhard and the environment." Ecotheology 10, no. 1 (April 2005): 88-98.
"A Holy Man and Lover of the World: the spirituality of Teilhard de Chardin." America 192, no. 11 (March 28, 2005): 7-10.
Forward. In The Divine Milieu, vii-xxvi. Portland: Sussex Academic Press, 2004.
"Teilhard's unity of knowledge." In Teilhard in the 21st Century, 33-43. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 2003.
"Globalization and the soul: according to Teilhard, Friedman, and others." Zygon 37, no. 1 (March 2002): 25-33.
"Teilhard and Globalization." Theology Digest 40, no. 3 (2002): 211-215.
"Virtual Faith: The Irreverent Spiritual Quest of Generation X (Book Review)." Theological Studies 60, no. 3 (September 1999): 587.
"Jung and Catholic Spirituality." America 180, no. 11 (April 1999): 12-15.
"Karl Barth And Thomas Merton Climbing Church Towers At Night." America 179, no. 19 (December 12, 1998): 12-14.
"Work on Teilhard, 1980-1994 : An Annotated Bibliography." With James F. Salmon. Zygon 30, no. 1 (March 1995): 131-142.
"An Explosion of Dazzling Flashes : Teilhard's Unity of Faith and Science." Zygon 30, no. 1 (March 1995): 105-115.
"The consecration of our world in the spiritual exercises of Ignatius." Journal of Spiritual Formation 15, no. 3 (November 1994): 273.
"Thomas Merton: The Development of a Spiritual Theologian." Theological Studies 47, no. 3 (September 1986): 546-547.
"The Milieux Teilhard left behind." America 152 (March 1985): 249-254.
"A Writer Loses Himself: A Study of Thomas Merton." Chicago Studies 24, no. 1 (1985): 69-86.
"A sermon for Teilhard's Mass on the world." In Teilhard and the Unity of Knowledge, 150-152. Ramsey, NJ: Paulist Press, 1983.
"Appendix : Teilhard and Piltdown." In Teilhard and the Unity of Knowledge, 159-169. Ramsey, NJ: Paulist Press, 1983.
"The Teilhard centennial." America 146, no. 16 (April 1982): 318-319.
"Atheism of Jean-Paul Sartre." In God in Contemporary Thought, 851-863. New York: Learned Pub, 1977.
"A Reason to Hope: A Synthesis of Teilhard de Chardin's Vision and Systems Thinking (Book Review)." Theological Studies 45, no. 2 (June 1984): 395-396.
"The Cosmic Christ in Origen and Teilhard de Chardin (Book Review)." Theological Studies 44, no. 2 (June 1983): 324-325.
"Evolution from space (Book Review)." America 147 (October 1982): 238-239.
"The spirit of the earth (Book Review)." America 145 (December 1981): 407-408.
