William May: Moral Theologian, Sentire Cum Ecclesia

Abstract

It would have been twenty-nine years in April since I first met Bill May—my former teacher, friend, mentor, and colleague. Not since that time have I known a harder working theologian—or a more colorful one! He spoke often of his own work, but, humble to the core, he never praised it. He reserved that praise for the personalities and projects of his many family members, friends, colleagues, students, and so on. He was a moral theologian whose theology was done thoroughly in accord with two famous Latin phrases, sentire cum Ecclesia and in corde Ecclesiae—defending her teaching on contraception in Humanae vitae and the teaching on the existence of moral absolutes in the face of dissent and proportionalistic methodologies. His favorite expression was “God is good!” Bill was a native of St. Louis, Missouri, as was his wife of fifty-six years, Patricia Ann (Keck). They met at a dance in Milwaukee in December 1957, and after marrying in October the following year, would have seven children and sixteen grandchildren together. But before marrying, Bill thought he might have a vocation to the priesthood. Working toward this goal, he received BA and MA degrees in philosophy at the Catholic University of America (Washington, DC). But he eventually discerned that he was not called to Holy Orders, but to marriage instead. Bill’s first jobs in the 1950s and 1960s were in the book publishing business as an editor, working at publishers such as Bruce in Milwaukee. Eventually, while working full time to support his growing family, he would study for a doctorate in philosophy at Marquette University, earning the degree in 1968 with a dissertation on the metaphysics of Henri Bergson. It was only later while teaching at Catholic University—first in the Department of Religion, then later in the graduate level School of Theology and Religious Studies—that he would teach theology. In fact, his first book (which won an award) was on the topic of Christology (1970). By the early 1970s, having been asked to teach moral theology, his publications shifted to ethics and the “new biology.” His next two books, Becoming Human: An Invitation to Christian Ethics (1975) and Existence, Medicine, and Ethics: Reflections on Human Life (1977) reflect these new areas of scholarly concern. In all, Bill would author or co-author some twelve books, edit and translate The Linacre Quarterly 82 (3) 2015, 191–192