Hubert John (Bert) Richards

Hubert John Richards (1921-2010) was a scripture scholar, lecturer and author.

Born in Germany, his family settled in England when he was six. His father was as a butcher.

After receiving his initial education in England, Richards studied at the English College in Rome, which, in 1939, temporarily relocated to Stonyhurst due to WWII.

Later, he also studied in Rome at the Pontifical Biblical Institute.

Ordained as a Roman Catholic priest in 1946, Richards returned to England in 1949 as Professor of Scripture at the Westminster Seminary.


However he had significant conflict with the English bishops and eventually resigned from the priesthood in 1975, although he remained loyal to the Catholic Church.

Although not trained as a musician, he played guitar and wrote a number of gospel songs to support his catechetical work. The most well known being "Go Tell Everyone", which was first published in 1969.

In 2011, his wife Clare published A Voice Crying in the Wilderness: Hubert Richards: What Really Happened?, which provides insights from Richard's own writing about the events he experienced.

1 comment:

  1. He was my uncle and is still with us through his books. He filled in for our priest in Canada one summer, and I still remember his sermons at mass wherein he was able to speak in simple language, addressing both the less educated and the ones seeking deeper meanings to scripture. A brilliant man who delighted in asking difficult questions to which there were no easy answers. A huge loss to the theological community! At the same time he was an active skier, a former mountaineer, a loving husband and father, and til his last days, always delighting in deep yet simple discussions. Oh yes - he was also addicted to Corrie Street, and carrying on a one-way conversation with the TV screen as he watched the ongoing to and froes of the cast on that long-running show. Go Figure - a biblical scholar and researcher following a soap opera!

    ReplyDelete