Fr Michael De Verteuil CSSp - RIP

SacredSpace102fm is sad to hear of the news of the death of Fr Michael de Verteuil CSSp. As regular readers/listeners of the programme know, we encourage the practise of lectio divina and for many people Fr Michael was an encouragement and guide to this ancient monastic practise through his books and many talks.

 

May he rest in peace. 

From the Archdiocese of Port of Spain:

 

Fr Michel de Verteuil CSSp, former rector of the Regional Seminary at Mt St Benedict and managing director and editor of the Catholic News, has died at the age of 84. Fr de Verteuil, who was also provincial of the Holy Ghost Fathers from 1980 to 1992, was found dead in his room on Sunday morning, after repeated calls went unanswered.

The funeral of Fr Michel, as he has been more affectionately called, took place on Thursday, January 9, at St Theresa’s Church, De Verteuil Street, Woodbrook. A priest for 54 years, Fr Michel’s influence extended beyond the Archdiocese and the Caribbean region. He became Seminary rector in 1970, shepherding its transition from an Archdiocesan seminary to a regional institution. 

In 1980 Fr Michel founded the Archdiocesan Pastoral Centre situated at UWI Chaplaincy, Carmody Road, St Augustine, and continued as its director until 2003. During this period, between 1992 and 2002, Fr Michel served as managing director and editor of the Catholic News. In 1998 the paper won a Royal Bank/ MATT Award for excellence in journalism – Best Editorial in print.

Fr Michel was co-founder of the annual School of Liturgy and one of the founders of Catholic Theology in the Caribbean, which brought together those interested in doing theology in the Caribbean space.

He was the principal promoter of Lectio Divina (a Latin expression for ‘sacred reading’) as a way of personal encounter with God through the words of Scripture. He worked to spread this method of reflection in the Caribbean, Ireland and Canada and wrote extensively on the topic.

In a message to priests and parish administrators on Fr Michel’s passing, Fr Clyde Harvey, Vicar for Clergy, writes: “At every step in his journey he profoundly influenced the lives of hundreds of Caribbean people as priest, mentor and friend, in the Church and beyond.”