J.R.R. Tolkien had three major influences. The first was the events of his own life, for example, the First World War. The second was the author's academic background; he was a linguist and the The Lord of the Rings was at first almost an excuse to overturn the languages Tolkien had invented. The third influence is the values and themes proper to Catholicism, and the priests who marked the author's life. of the saga of The Lord of the Rings y who contributed to its formation. J.R.R. Tolkien was a fervent Catholic and that inevitably had to be reflected in his work. He was a devout Catholic since his conversion and throughout his life. He later formed a Catholic family and the eldest of his children was also a Catholic. priest.
John Ronald Reuel Tolkien was born in South Africa in 1892. His father, Arthur Tolkien, worked as a diamond merchant for the Bank of England. In 1895, Mabel Tolkien decided to go with her two sons on a visit to England. But in South Africa her father dies, leaving the family with no income. Ronald was only 4 years old so his mother had to look after the young Tolkien and his brother on her own. After her husband died, the family moved to Birmingham. Soon after, Tolkien's mother decided to convert to Catholicism and with her her children. It must be taken into account what it meant to abandon the Anglican faith in the England of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. This act was seen not only as a religious betrayal, but also as a betrayal of one's country.The Tolkien family was socially ostracized. And to make life more difficult for the future author, when he is 12 years old, his mother dies. He and his brother become orphans. Father Francis Xavier Morgan will support them financially and spiritually from then on. Since these events, the life of J.R.R. Tolkien changes and religion and the figure of the priest become a fundamental part of their childhood.. Facts that inevitably forge their character.
This priest, who never wanted to lose his roots, and who always traveled to Spain whenever he could, came from a Spanish family with a significant background in the world of letters, the Böhl de Faber family. Francisco Javier Morgan Osborne was born in El Puerto de Santa María (Cádiz) in 1857. At the age of eleven was sent to study at the Birmingham Oratory School under the direction of the famed Cardinal John Henry Cardinal Newman.. After completing his studies, he began his religious career and joined the community of the Oratory. ordered, in March 1883. For the rest of his life he was linked to this institution and its prestigious school, carrying out multiple tasks. During his early years he was personal assistant to the Cardinal himself, whom he represented in an audience with Pope Leo XIII.. After Cardinal Newman's death in 1890, he took on a wide variety of tasks, from directing the prestigious Oratory choir to other bureaucratic activities. Above all, however, his vocation was manifested in his deep personal involvement with the Oratory parish and its parishioners, among whom he carried out numerous acts of mercy and philanthropy.
Thus, among others, he took on the role of guardian of an orphaned boy who was to become the famous philologist and writer J. R. R. Tolkien, even though this task meant that for several years he could not return to Spain to visit his family. The financial means that Mabel Tolkien had left for the upbringing of the children were very meager, but father Francis secretly supplemented them with money from his share of the family business in Puerto de Santa Maria. J.R.R. Tolkien, who referred to Father Morgan as his second father, obtained from him the financial resources that enabled him to study at King Edward's School and later at Oxford. He also owed his religious training, a fundamental trait in the work of this author, as well as his taste for languages and in particular for the Spanish language. In addition, several experts say Tolkien used him as inspiration for some of his characters. and that, thanks to him, the cultural tradition of his ancestors, particularly Fernán Caballero, reached the British author. Morgan died in Birmingham in 1935, saddened by the difficult political and social situation that Spain was suffering in those moments prior to the outbreak of the Civil War. Probably his most important legacy is that of having been a link between the Spanish Catholic and cultural tradition and such an outstanding figure as Cardinal Newman and, in turn, of having transmitted all this to one of the most universal authors of the twentieth century.
Father Francis Xavier Morgan, was attached to St. Philip Neri Oratory in Birmingham founded by Cardinal John Henry Newman who was canonized in 2019. Today Newman is more relevant than ever, some of today's problems are similar to those of the Victorian England of his time: among others, the rational understanding of God, the need for the formation of the laity and the scrupulous search for moral truth. This was the understanding of Benedict XVI, who beatified him in 2010. Although he lived more than a century ago, Newman is a person who has much to say to the world today. His book on what a university is, for example, is a classic on education that continues to be discussed today. And it's not just an abstract discussion: Newman started a university in Dublin and a grammar school in England, and both endure to this day. With a continuous work over 45 years, Newman brings about a great social change in the country. By the time of his death in 1890, it was already looking good for someone to become a Catholic. Conversion is a socially acceptable path thanks to Newman.
Like other British Catholic authors, J.R.R. Tolkien owes a debt to Newman's thought and ideas. which, due to his biographical circumstances, were surely transmitted to him in a very direct way. Precisely Cardinal Newman's influence was decisive in Tolkien's decision to create a mythological universe with Catholic roots. "Cardinal Newman defended, with respect to myths, that there are two revelations. One, the one contained in the Bible. And the other, to reach the Gentiles, through nature, which was reflected throughout history through myths," explains Diego Blanco, an expert in Tolkien's work. In this sense, Newman defended that mythology well understood prefigures the Gospel. Thus Tolkien understood the need to create a mythology for non-Catholic England. and begins to write The Silmarillionwhere the creation of a world with a unique god in which the most beautiful angel rebels is developed. The idea behind it is "to narrate in a mythological way in order to reach people's hearts without forcing people."White emphasizes through the narration of "a deep and spiritual battle that Tolkien always defended". Newman has left an enormous legacy regarding his ideas, which facilitates the task of knowing in detail his thought.. Thus, for Newman, the role of the literature should never be to develop moral virtues, as this is something that should fall to the family and the Church. This intimate belief, undoubtedly shared by Tolkien, was demonstrated through various facts such as the renunciation of allegory in his works. The writer Graham Greene (1904-1991) defined Newman as the 'patron saint of Catholic novelists' in what amounts to a recognition of the heritage of the founder of the Oratory. by authors such as himself, Hilaire Belloc, G.K. Chesterton, Evelyn Waugh or J.R.R. Tolkien himself. All have in common, among them and with Newman, the origin of their inspiration, based on their moral and intellectual foundations as convinced Catholics and fruit, in many cases, of experiences that had an enormous influence on their beliefs.
Father Robert Murray had been a personal friend of J.R.R. Tolkien's since 1944, when they were introduced by the author's aunt. At the time, Murray was a graduate student in Corpus Christi College at Oxford. In 1946, Murray joined the Catholic Church due in part to his relationship with the Tolkien family. After graduating, Murray joined the Society of Jesus and was ordained in 1959. This Jesuit had the privilege of maintaining a close friendship with the writer, of reading and correcting, especially on theological issues, the manuscripts of The Lord of the Rings. And of maintaining an abundant correspondence on the subject. In one of these letters, Tolkien details to Father Murray that. The Lord of the Rings is a Catholic work in its foundation, without a doubt: "The Lord of the Rings is, of course, a fundamentally religious and Catholic work; unconsciously at first, but then I became aware of it in the revision," says the English author. After having been ordained priest on July 31, 1959, Robert Murray had his first Mass at the Oratory Church of Saint Aloysius in Oxford. Father Murray recalled that Tolkien and his son Christopher Tolkien were present that day. The Tolkien's friendship with the Jesuit lasted for years, until the last days of his life. In August 1973 he had lunch with Tolkien, who died the following month, on September 2. On September 6, 1973 a requiem Mass for Tolkien was held at St. Anthony of Padua in Headington, Oxford. The prayers and readings were chosen by his son John, who officiated at the Mass with the help of Robert Murray and the parish priest, Monsignor Doran. On September 15, 1973, Tolkien's obituary was published in. The Tablet, written by Father Robert Murray.
Bibliography
Opusdei.org Newman, a saint for our times.
José Manuel Ferrández Bru , J.R.R. Tolkien and Cardinal Newman: Sons of the Same Light.
Tolkien. Letters from JRR Tolkien, Arte y Letra, 2006.
Jesuit.org.uk/profile/robert-murray-sj.
