Charles T. Murr
Encyclopedia
Charles T. Murr is a Catholic priest
, author, linguist, and founder of an Orphanage in Tepatitlan, Jalisco, Mexico.
on August 15, 1950, the oldest of eight children born to Theodore Charles and Anita Jane (née LeTourneau) Murr.
Murr then went on to Saint Norbert College in De Pere, Wisconsin, obtaining his B.A., (Magna cum Laude) in Romance Languages in 1971, while also taking graduate courses at the University of Wisconsin at Madison during the summers of 1970 and 1971 in French, Spanish, and Latin.
In the fall of 1971 he enrolled in the Pontificia Universita San Tommaso D’Aquino in Urbe, Roma, Italia; earning a second Baccalaureate, this time in Philosophy in 1972. He then began theological studies at the same University, earning another Baccalaureate, this time in Thomistic Theology, finishing in 1975. Moving on to Graduate Theology, Murr transferred to the Pontificia Universita Gregoriana, Roma, Italia, earing a (Doctoral-level) Licentiate in Sacred Theology in 1977, and continuing there, earning a Licentiate in Philosophical Anthropology in 1979.
His continuing education includes: Universitat Salzburg; Salzburg, Osterreich, (1993–94) Psychology and German; Saint Joseph Dunwoodie, Dunwoodie, New York, M.Div 1996, and finally, New York University, New York, New York, M.S. in Psychology, 2001.
In September 1979, Murr was called to Mexico for one year of pastoral experience before returning to Europe to finish his doctoral dissertation in philosophy.
Assigned as curate to the Church of the Holy Family, a poor parish in Tepatitlan, Jalisco (near Guadalajara), He was also named professor of philosophy and theology at the Seminario Major de San Juan de los Lagos, Jalisco. Shortly after his arrival in Tapatitlan, Murr began “collecting” abandoned street kids and brought them to his home and began to feed, clothe, and educate them.
Within the year, he had taken in 12 boys and 8 girls. Murr greatly enjoyed teaching, but the number of his children was growing and traveling back and forth to the seminary – an hour and a half each way over unimproved roads – was beginning to take its toll. Murr appealed to his Ordianary, Archbishop Francisco Javier Nuno, who was impressed with Murr's zeal and concern for the children, and so assigned him full time to found and build a diocesan orphanage, relieving him of his duties at the seminary. Murr went back to Rome and enlisted the assistance of the Italian Congregation of Our Lady of Sorrows. Hailing from Forli, Abruzzi, the Republic of San Marino, and Rome, four nuns were sent to help him run his mission.
During one of Murr's trips to Rome, he was Sent to Beirut (Fall, 1983) to assist in the release of kidnap victim Youssef el-Khoury, the Bishop of Tyre, a mission that was successful in obtaining the Bishop's release. Murr also worked two summers (1984 and 1985) on Wall Street (Fundamental Brokers, Inc.) as a way to raise more money for the orphanage. Eventually, that company, along with VWGriffo, became major donors to the mission.
About five years from its founding, Villa Francisco Javier Nuno was dedicated on the Feast of Our Lady of Sorrows, September 15, 1986, and became home to 148 Mexican children. Because of his activities at the Orphanage, later that year Murr beacme a recipient of the JCI's "Ten Outstanding Young Americans" for 1986 and "Ten Outstanding Young Persons of the World" World award for 1986. Murr also oversaw the construction of other facilities supporting the Orphanage (Casa Hogar) in Villa Francisco Javier: La Boulangerie Saint Joseph; Restaurant de L’Eau Vive, all located in Tepatitlan de Morelos, Jalisco; and Rancho Arcangel Miguel [RAM], Buena Vista (Municipio de Tepatitlan de Morelos), Jalisco, Mexico. The building of Rancho Arcangel Miguel was designed by Murr, whose father was a builder and passed along architectural skills to him; RAM was crafted to be a replica of the Von Trapp family home near Salzburg.
In order to support his work in Tepatitlan, Murr founded Fr. Charles Murr Orphanages, Inc., an organization of which he remains President.
Murr's book "Society of Judas" is a Roman à clef
of his experiences in Mexico.
Murr was still in charge of the orphanage at the time of the assassination of the Archbishop of Guadalajara, Juan Jesús Cardinal Posadas Ocampo, on May 24, 1993 and was advised to resign from his Mexican Diocese that day, and was offered incardination in the Archdiocese of New York by John Joseph Cardinal O'Connor.
In New York, Murr Assisted in design and restoration of Saint Joseph’s Roman Catholic Church (German National Parish), Yorkville (Manhattan), New York, New York; Remodeling of Our Lady of Guadalupe Roman Catholic Church (Manhattan), New York, New York; restoration and renovation of Saint Francis de Sales Roman Catholic Church (Manhattan), New York, New York, having been assigned as Pastor of St. Francis, which is situated at 96th and Lexington in Manhattan. He was also assigned at the same time as Pastor of nearby St. Lucy's Parish.
Murr resigned his post as Pastor of St. Francis de Sales Parish on April 2, 2004 because of financial and administrative problems with the parish's elementary school, St. Francis Academy, which was closed in 2007. Murr is not now in active ministry with the Church.
Priest
A priest is a person authorized to perform the sacred rites of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particular, rites of sacrifice to, and propitiation of, a deity or deities...
, author, linguist, and founder of an Orphanage in Tepatitlan, Jalisco, Mexico.
Early life
Charles Theodore Murr was born in Saint Paul, MinnesotaSaint Paul, Minnesota
Saint Paul is the capital and second-most populous city of the U.S. state of Minnesota. The city lies mostly on the east bank of the Mississippi River in the area surrounding its point of confluence with the Minnesota River, and adjoins Minneapolis, the state's largest city...
on August 15, 1950, the oldest of eight children born to Theodore Charles and Anita Jane (née LeTourneau) Murr.
Education
Murr began his schooling at the Saint Augustine Grammar School, South Saint Paul, Minnesota, attending there from 1957 until 1960, when his family moved to a larger home. He then transferred to Providence Grammar School, South Saint Paul, completing his primary education there in the spring of 1965. He attended Brady High School, run by the Christian Brothers there in West Saint Paul, graduating in 1969.Murr then went on to Saint Norbert College in De Pere, Wisconsin, obtaining his B.A., (Magna cum Laude) in Romance Languages in 1971, while also taking graduate courses at the University of Wisconsin at Madison during the summers of 1970 and 1971 in French, Spanish, and Latin.
In the fall of 1971 he enrolled in the Pontificia Universita San Tommaso D’Aquino in Urbe, Roma, Italia; earning a second Baccalaureate, this time in Philosophy in 1972. He then began theological studies at the same University, earning another Baccalaureate, this time in Thomistic Theology, finishing in 1975. Moving on to Graduate Theology, Murr transferred to the Pontificia Universita Gregoriana, Roma, Italia, earing a (Doctoral-level) Licentiate in Sacred Theology in 1977, and continuing there, earning a Licentiate in Philosophical Anthropology in 1979.
His continuing education includes: Universitat Salzburg; Salzburg, Osterreich, (1993–94) Psychology and German; Saint Joseph Dunwoodie, Dunwoodie, New York, M.Div 1996, and finally, New York University, New York, New York, M.S. in Psychology, 2001.
Career
On May 13, 1977, in the Basilica of SS. Giovanni e Paulo (Monte Celio), Charles Theodore Murr was ordained a Roman Catholic priest, Pericle Cardinal Felici ordaining. Murr had worked in L’Ufficio Informazioni (Piazza San Pietro, Vaticano) since 1974, and continued in that capacity until 1979. Murr had additional duties from 1976-79 as Special Aide to Édouard Cardinal Gagnon in Apostolic Visitation to the Roman Curia.In September 1979, Murr was called to Mexico for one year of pastoral experience before returning to Europe to finish his doctoral dissertation in philosophy.
Assigned as curate to the Church of the Holy Family, a poor parish in Tepatitlan, Jalisco (near Guadalajara), He was also named professor of philosophy and theology at the Seminario Major de San Juan de los Lagos, Jalisco. Shortly after his arrival in Tapatitlan, Murr began “collecting” abandoned street kids and brought them to his home and began to feed, clothe, and educate them.
Within the year, he had taken in 12 boys and 8 girls. Murr greatly enjoyed teaching, but the number of his children was growing and traveling back and forth to the seminary – an hour and a half each way over unimproved roads – was beginning to take its toll. Murr appealed to his Ordianary, Archbishop Francisco Javier Nuno, who was impressed with Murr's zeal and concern for the children, and so assigned him full time to found and build a diocesan orphanage, relieving him of his duties at the seminary. Murr went back to Rome and enlisted the assistance of the Italian Congregation of Our Lady of Sorrows. Hailing from Forli, Abruzzi, the Republic of San Marino, and Rome, four nuns were sent to help him run his mission.
During one of Murr's trips to Rome, he was Sent to Beirut (Fall, 1983) to assist in the release of kidnap victim Youssef el-Khoury, the Bishop of Tyre, a mission that was successful in obtaining the Bishop's release. Murr also worked two summers (1984 and 1985) on Wall Street (Fundamental Brokers, Inc.) as a way to raise more money for the orphanage. Eventually, that company, along with VWGriffo, became major donors to the mission.
About five years from its founding, Villa Francisco Javier Nuno was dedicated on the Feast of Our Lady of Sorrows, September 15, 1986, and became home to 148 Mexican children. Because of his activities at the Orphanage, later that year Murr beacme a recipient of the JCI's "Ten Outstanding Young Americans" for 1986 and "Ten Outstanding Young Persons of the World" World award for 1986. Murr also oversaw the construction of other facilities supporting the Orphanage (Casa Hogar) in Villa Francisco Javier: La Boulangerie Saint Joseph; Restaurant de L’Eau Vive, all located in Tepatitlan de Morelos, Jalisco; and Rancho Arcangel Miguel [RAM], Buena Vista (Municipio de Tepatitlan de Morelos), Jalisco, Mexico. The building of Rancho Arcangel Miguel was designed by Murr, whose father was a builder and passed along architectural skills to him; RAM was crafted to be a replica of the Von Trapp family home near Salzburg.
In order to support his work in Tepatitlan, Murr founded Fr. Charles Murr Orphanages, Inc., an organization of which he remains President.
Murr's book "Society of Judas" is a Roman à clef
Roman à clef
Roman à clef or roman à clé , French for "novel with a key", is a phrase used to describe a novel about real life, overlaid with a façade of fiction. The fictitious names in the novel represent real people, and the "key" is the relationship between the nonfiction and the fiction...
of his experiences in Mexico.
Murr was still in charge of the orphanage at the time of the assassination of the Archbishop of Guadalajara, Juan Jesús Cardinal Posadas Ocampo, on May 24, 1993 and was advised to resign from his Mexican Diocese that day, and was offered incardination in the Archdiocese of New York by John Joseph Cardinal O'Connor.
In New York, Murr Assisted in design and restoration of Saint Joseph’s Roman Catholic Church (German National Parish), Yorkville (Manhattan), New York, New York; Remodeling of Our Lady of Guadalupe Roman Catholic Church (Manhattan), New York, New York; restoration and renovation of Saint Francis de Sales Roman Catholic Church (Manhattan), New York, New York, having been assigned as Pastor of St. Francis, which is situated at 96th and Lexington in Manhattan. He was also assigned at the same time as Pastor of nearby St. Lucy's Parish.
Murr resigned his post as Pastor of St. Francis de Sales Parish on April 2, 2004 because of financial and administrative problems with the parish's elementary school, St. Francis Academy, which was closed in 2007. Murr is not now in active ministry with the Church.