RIP Fr Calvin Goodwin, FSSP

Please pray for the repose of the soul of Fr. Calvin Peter Goodwin, FSSP, who passed away yesterday around 9:30 am EST in Lewiston, ME, USA.

Born in America of a British mother, Fr Goodwin had lived for a short time in Wimbledon near London, and always treasured his British heritage, including a dry sense of humour. At our American seminary, he would often pray the Prayer for the Queen after his Low Mass. He had come to England in August 2009 to assist as tutor with Fr de Malleray at the Priests’ training session organised by the Latin Mass Socitety in London Colney, the then-pastoral centre of the Westminster Archdiocese. A highly cultured man and an expert in opera music, he was a frequent guest on a national radio to comment on opera performances. Fr Goodwin was the first Jesuit to join our Fraternity.

He had been actively involved in the professional tutorial DVD made in partnership between the FSSP and EWTN. You can watch his 21min presentation of the Traditional Mass for clergy here (where he quotes Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple!): https://youtu.be/JVVXPhcV9_4 .

And further, his audio conference https://fssp.com/battle-for-the-ancient-mass-goodwin/ explains the history and struggles associated with the Traditional Latin Mass in this hour long talk.

Fr. Calvin Goodwin, born October 24, 1948, was originally from Norwalk, Connecticut.  He was a graduate of Fairfield University in Connecticut and received advanced degrees in philosophy from the University of Toronto and Theology from Weston School of Theology in Boston, Massachusetts.  In 1974, Father Goodwin entered the Society of Jesus.  During his formation years, he spent four years at Cheverus High School in Portland, where he taught Latin and Greek.  Fr. Goodwin was ordained a priest on June 9, 1979 and returned to Cheverus to teach the classics for 20 years.  A gifted teacher, he was loved by his students and greatly admired by his colleagues.

In 1999, moved by his great love for the Traditional Latin Mass, Fr. Goodwin applied to the Fraternity of St. Peter. From August 1999 to June 2000 he was Assistant Chaplain at our apostolate in Pequannock NJ. Then from 2000 to 2013 he taught at the seminary of the Fraternity in Denton, NE. He was definitively incorporated into the FSSP on October 18, 2004. In addition to his teaching duties, Fr. Goodwin was the spiritual director to many of our seminarians at OLGS. He later became the  Director of Priest Training for those priests wishing to learn the Traditional Latin Mass.  Throughout his priesthood, Father Goodwin showed a special dedication to contemplative orders of sisters most notably, the Sisters of the Precious Blood in Portland and the Carmelites in Danvers, Massachusetts and later Valparaiso, Nebraska, serving as the Confessor for the community and offering spiritual direction.  In 2013, Fr Goodwin asked to retire in order to assist his mother to Lewiston, while continuing to collaborate with Latin Mass Magazine and to serve as a retreat preacher, among other things.

In October 2016 Fr Goodwin suffered a serious hemorrhagic stroke from which he came out quite diminished. Unable to celebrate Mass again, he spent his last years in a nursing home, surrounded by his mother and comforted by the visits of several confreres. He wanted to offer his sufferings for the Fraternity.

Requiescat in Pace !

by Fr AM