Person DS/UK/120 Campbell-Johnston; Michael (1931-2023); Jesuit Priest Campbell-Johnston Michael 1931-2023 Jesuit Priest Male

Michael, usually known as C-J, was born in London on 27th September 1931. He was educated first at the Holy Family Convent in Cavendish Square (later to be the first London location of Heythrop College), and later at Beaumont College in Old Windsor. In 1949, at the age of 17, he joined the Jesuit novitiate at Manresa in Roehampton, transferring to Harlaxton before his First Vows two years later. After a further year at Manresa as juniorate, he moved to Chantilly outside Paris for philosophy, returning to Roehampton once again for a licentiate programme in the subject, followed by a one-year certificate in education. Between 1956 and 1960 he took a BSc in Economics at the University of London while living at Stamford Hill, except for one year when he combined these studies with living and teaching at Beaumont. Next came a year’s regency at Stonyhurst, after which he started his theology studies, initially at Heythrop in Oxfordshire and then, from late 1962, in Mexico. He was ordained in Mexico City in 1964 and, after gaining a licentiate in theology, made his tertianship in Brazil. Post-tertianship C-J worked for two years in a student house in Barbados, and in 1968 transferred to Guyana, as Director of the national social institute, GISRA. At the end of 1975 he was called to Rome by Pedro Arrupe to be Secretary of the Jesuit Socio-Economic Development Secretariat (JESEDES). In this capacity he founded, and published the first thirty issues of, Promotio Justitiae, and was closely involved in the establishment of the Jesuit Refugee Service in 1980. He took part in GC33 which elected Arrupe’s successor, Peter-Hans Kolvenbach, and then in 1984 was appointed as the Regional Co-ordinator of JRS in Central America. While there he learnt from a fax message that he had been appointed as Provincial of the British Province, starting in September 1987. After serving a six-year term as Provincial he returned to the Caribbean, initially to Barbados and then to El Salvador as director of development services and assistant director (later director) of the Fe y Alegría schools movement. From 1996 he combined this work with being parish priest of San Antonio Abad church in San Salvador. An operation in 2000 left him permanently deaf in one ear, and two years later he moved back to Barbados as parish priest and guest master at St Francis of Assisi church. In 2010 he returned to Britain, living as a writer in Farm Street. He published his memoirs, entitled Just Faith: A Jesuit Striving for Social Justice, the following year. Finally in 2017 he moved to the Corpus Christi Jesuit Community in Boscombe, where he was cared for until his death on Thursday 12th October 2023. He was 92 years old, in the 75th year of religious life. Member of the English Province of the Society of Jesus International Standard Archival Authority Record for Corporate Bodies, Persons and Families - ISAAR(CPF) 2nd edition - ICA 2004 ISBN 2-9521932-2-3 National Council on Archives, Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997 Yes MAllen 10/11/2016 CURIA\RSomerset 13/10/2023 32954efc-1239-47c3-8068-1b2be29fb919