Requiem Mass for Fr Fergus Kerr OP
28th November 2025
It is with great sadness that we inform you of the death of Fr Fergus Kerr OP, who died peacefully on Sunday evening, having had dinner earlier that evening. Fr Fergus’ funeral will take place in Edinburgh in December. Please see details below.
You are warmly invited to join the Oxford Dominican Community for a Requiem Mass for Fr Fergus at Blackfriars on Saturday, 17th January, at 11am.
Eternal Rest grant unto him, O Lord; and let perpetual light shine upon him. May he rest in peace. Amen.
Funeral in Edinburgh (St Albert’s, EH8 9LD)
Thursday, 11th December 2025
- 16:30 | Reception of the body at the Chapel, followed by Office for the Dead
- 17:15 | Mass
Friday, 12th December 2025
- 12:30 | Mass
- 14:30 | Burial at Mt Vernon
Requiem Mass in Oxford
- Date | Saturday, 17th January 2026
- Time | 11:00
- Venue | Blackfriars Priory Church (OX1 3LY)
About Fr Fergus Kerr OP
Fr Fergus’ influence on the English Dominican Province and its intellectual apostolate was immense. He was Prior of Blackfriars 1969-1978, remaining here until 1986/87, when he moved to Edinburgh, returning as Regent of Blackfriars Hall 1988-2004, after which he moved back to Edinburgh when he finished as Regent. He was also the Editor of New Blackfriars 1995-2020.
Fr Fergus produced much ground-breaking work, for example, bringing insights from analytical philosophy into conversation with the work of St Thomas Aquinas and drawing out the theological relevance of the work of Ludwig Wittgenstein (Theology After Wittgenstein, 1986; After Aquinas: Versions of Thomism, 2002). He also encouraged and inspired young Dominicans and other scholars on whom he had an enormous impact. Many of the leading theologians of recent decades in the UK and beyond cite Fr Fergus as a major influence.
He was a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh and was made an Honorary Doctor of Divinity of the University of Edinburgh in 2019.
The friars remember Fr Fergus as a brother who was devoted to Dominican community life, a wonderful preacher, and a wise and compassionate priest.
Photo credit: David Williams (2023), printed by Pradip Malde, Scottish National Portrait Gallery.