South African Archbishop Hurley, apartheid opponent, dies at age 88

Published: 2004-02-16

CAPE TOWN, South Africa (CNS) -- Retired Archbishop Denis Hurley of Durban, South Africa, an outspoken opponent of apartheid, died Feb. 13 at age 88. Archbishop Hurley, who died in Durban as he was returning home from attending a religious celebration, "will be remembered for his outstanding contribution to the struggle against apartheid, for his concern for the poor and his commitment to a more just and peaceful society," the Southern African Catholic Bishops' Conference said in a statement. Bishop Kevin Dowling of Rustenburg, vice chairman of the bishops' justice and peace department, recalled Archbishop Hurley as a "wonderful leader and prophet." "He was able to analyze an issue of justice with extraordinary insight and, with this, was his deep ability to see its relation to people in their ordinary human circumstances," Bishop Dowling told Catholic News Service. Archbishop Hurley was born Nov. 8, 1915, in Cape Town to Irish parents. The son of a lighthouse keeper, he was raised at various lighthouses on South Africa's coast. After finishing school in Pietermaritzburg near Durban, he went to Ireland to study for the priesthood with the Oblates of Mary Immaculate. He completed degrees in philosophy at Rome's Angelicum University and in theology at Gregorian University in Rome, where he was ordained in 1939. He returned to South Africa a year later and was assigned to Durban's Emmanuel Cathedral. In 1944, he was elected to head the new St. Joseph's Scholasticate in Pietermaritzburg, where Oblates were trained. In 1947, he was named to replace Bishop Henry Delalle of Durban. At 31, he became the youngest bishop in the world. He was made an archbishop five years later, becoming the youngest archbishop at the time. At the Second Vatican Council, Archbishop Hurley was among 25 members of the agenda-setting Central Preparatory Commission. He first served as chairman of the Southern African Catholic Bishops' Conference from 1952 to 1961, during which time the conference spoke against apartheid for the first time. In 1957, the conference issued a statement describing the system of enforced racial segregation as "inherently evil."

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