by LYNDSAY FREER
Reverend Dr George Duggan, a priest of the Society of Mary (Marist Fathers) will celebrated his 100th birthday on July 3.

Affectionately know as “Chalky” to his friends and students, Fr Duggan became a household name to Catholics in New Zealand and beyond as an author, teacher and lecturer until his retirement in the 1980s.
Born in Runanga near Greymouth, he was educated by the Mercy Sisters and Marist Brothers in Greymouth and Reefton, and his secondary education was at St Bede’s College, Christchurch, where he was dux in both 1927 and 1928. He won a University National Scholarship in 1928, the first St Bede’s student to do so.
Fr Duggan studied theology in Rome for four years and gained a Doctorate in Sacred Theology (STD) from the Angelicum with a Magna Cum Laude (“with great praise”). His thesis, published later with the imprimatur of Cardinal Peter McKeefry of Wellington, was The Church in the Writings of St John Fisher.
In addition to his reputation as an outstanding academic who specialised in the theological writings of St Thomas Aquinas, he gained a reputation for his prolific letter writing to newspapers and periodicals around the English-speaking world. His colourful and uncompromising (and sometimes harsh) denunciation of what he considered to be aberrant or erroneous theology and doctrine meant that he was often engaged in feisty exchanges of view in the letters columns of Catholic and secular publications.
Those who knew Father Duggan personally, however, knew a very different man from his public persona. Many stories are told of the sportsman with his interest particularly in cricket, often ready during his teaching years to stand in for the First XI when the need arose; and the homely and domestic Fr Duggan who for years bought fruit to make jam for distribution to his friends and colleagues.
Many of his confreres and friends speak of his pastoral gifts. Despite what was perceived as his hard line on doctrinal and moral issues, he was regarded as a gentle and sensitive confessor and counsellor.
In recent years, he has become increasingly frail, and has lived in the care of the Silverstream Home of Compassion, supported by his Marist confreres at neighbouring Marian Court.
On his 100th birthday his family, friends and members of the Society of Mary gathered for Mass at the Home of Compassion, followed by light refreshments, and he was presented with a papal blessing.