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Redemptorist Father John Murray is paralyzed from the chest down after a freak accident in late August. (Courtesy the Redemptorists)|

Former Annapolis and Baltimore pastor paralyzed in freak accident

January 19, 2012
By George P. Matysek Jr.
Filed Under: Local News, News

By George P. Matysek Jr.

gmatysek@CatholicReview.org

Redemptorist Father John Murray, former pastor of St. Mary, Annapolis, and St. Wenceslaus, Baltimore, was paralyzed from the chest down in a freak accident Aug. 27.

During his morning stroll on the boardwalk in Long Beach, N.J., the 62-year-old priest fell and hit his head on a railing. He was rushed to the Jersey Shore Medical Center, where he underwent emergency spinal cord surgery. He is now undergoing rehabilitation at the Kessler Institute for Rehabilitation in West Orange, N.J.

Father Murray is a former weekly columnist for The Catholic Review. For the last 11 years, his ministry has focused on preaching across the East Coast. He has spoken many times at parishes within the Archdiocese of Baltimore.

“You always preach about learning to accept the cross,” Father Murray said in a Sept. 13 telephone interview from his hospital bed. “This is a cross that God permitted to happen and I won’t fight it or resist it and I won’t even complain about it. You embrace the cross because it’s the way to the kingdom. I really believe that.”

Father Murray, who has been in residence at the San Alfonso Retreat House in Long Branch, N.J., said he has been overwhelmed by the support of former parishioners. He has received about 30 letters a day since the accident. Archbishop Edwin F. O’Brien has also written and called.

“The people are very good,” he said. “It’s very, very touching. I appreciate their prayers. Grace always comes as a result of prayer.”

Father Murray will undergo rehabilitation for 12 weeks. He believes he will likely spend the rest of his life in a wheelchair and hopes to continue his ministry by preaching on a Redemptorist web site.

“I recognize what’s happened as a cross and I’m learning to carry my cross,” he said. “I had a very active ministry and, now, I’m preaching more by a quiet witness of faith.”

Cards may be sent to Father John Murray, c/o Kessler Institute for Rehabilitation, 1199 Pleasant Valley Way, West Orange, N.J. 07052.

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George P. Matysek Jr.

George Matysek, a member of the Catholic Review staff since 1997, has served as managing editor since September 2021. He previously served as a writer, senior correspondent, assistant managing editor and digital editor of the Catholic Review and the Archdiocese of Baltimore.

In his current role, he oversees news coverage of the Archdiocese of Baltimore and is a host of Catholic Review Radio.

George has won more than 100 national and regional journalism and broadcasting awards from the Maryland-Delaware-DC Press Association, the Catholic Press Association, the Associated Church Press and National Right to Life. He has reported from Guyana, Guatemala, Italy, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland.

A native Baltimorean, George is a proud graduate of Our Lady of Mount Carmel High School in Essex. He holds a bachelor's degree from Loyola University Maryland in Baltimore and a master's degree from UMBC.

George, his wife and five children live in Rodgers Forge. He is a parishioner of the Cathedral of Mary Our Queen in Homeland.

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