Date of death: 11/8/2022
Saint Meinrad Class: O 1967
Rev. Donald Senior, C.P., President Emeritus and Chancellor of Catholic Theological Union died November 8, 2022 at the age of 82. A priest and member of the Passionist Congregation, Fr. Senior was an internationally recognized biblical scholar, author, educator, and sought-after participant in ecumenical and inter-religious dialogue.
Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on January 1, 1940, he entered the Congregation of the Passion in 1960 and was ordained a Catholic priest in 1967. After completing his doctorate in New Testament Studies from the University of Louvain in Belgium in 1972, he joined the faculty of Catholic Theological Union (CTU). He served as President of CTU from 1987 to 1994 and 1997 to 2013 and was then named Chancellor.
A prolific writer, Fr. Senior wrote numerous books, articles and reviews for both scholarly and popular audiences. He was General Editor of The Bible Today, co-editor of the twenty-two-volume commentary New Testament Message, General Editor of The Catholic Study Bible, and The Jerome Biblical Commentary for the Twenty-First Century.
As an educator, he always found great joy in leading tours into the lands of the Bible, especially Israel. He served on numerous boards including the Catholic Biblical Association of America, the Association of Theological Schools of the United States and Canada, and the Council of Religious Leaders of Metropolitan Chicago. He was appointed a member of the Pontifical Biblical Commission by Pope Saint John Paul II in 2001 and reappointed for a second term by Pope Benedict XVI in 2006.
Fr. Don was the second of four children born from Vincent and Margaret (Tiernan) Senior. He was the beloved brother of Rita (Dudley) Shanks, the late Vincent Jr. (Alice) and the late Miriam Senior. He was the uncle of Pearce (Monica) Shanks, Beth (Scott) Cotter, Amy (Greg) Ingrassia, and Meg Senior. He was the Great uncle of Ben, Nate and Kristen Cotter, Amy and Jonathan Ingrassia, and Oscar S. Shanks.