John Chapman OSB |
|
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Abbot | |
Church | Roman Catholic |
In office | 1929-1933 |
Personal details | |
Birth name | Henry Chapman |
Born | 25 April 1865 |
Died | 7 November 1933 (aged 68) |
Nationality | English |
Denomination | Roman Catholic |
Previous post | Abbot of Downside |
Alma mater | University of Oxford |
John Chapman, O.S.B. (25 April 1865 – 7 November 1933), received into the Roman Catholic Church at the age of 25, was a Roman Catholic priest, the 4th Abbot of Downside Abbey of the English Benedictine Congregation from 1929 until his death, an internationally respected New Testament and patristics scholar, a defender of the priority of the Gospel according to Matthew and a spiritual writer enjoying enduring appreciation.
He is best known for having founded one of the elite independent schools in Britain: Worth, in West Sussex.
Baptised with the name of Henry Chapman and the son of an Anglican canon of Ely Cathedral, he was educated privately and at Christ Church, Oxford (1883-6), where he received a first class degree in Classical Greats. He stayed for a subsequent year at Oxford studying theology, in which he took a third. It was an important year for him, however, because in this time he decided to be ordained in the Church of England.
Having trained at Cuddesdon near Oxford, Chapman was ordained as a deacon in the Church of England in 1889 and began a curacy in the parish of St Pancras, London. He found himself increasingly troubled during this time about the position of the Church of England and eventually left the parish soon after Trinity Sunday.