Obituary: John P. Dourley

John Patrick Dourley died at home at the Springhurst OMI Residence, on June 22, 2018 at the age of 82. Although he had been in declining health in recent years, he was still in practice and his death was unexpected. Born in Venosta, Quebec, John grew up in Ottawa, Ontario where he lived for most of his life. He was a Roman Catholic priest, member of the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate, Professor Emeritus at Carleton University, and a widely known Jungian analyst and scholar. He was ordained in June 1964 and held Licentiates in Philosophy and Theology from St. Paul's University in Ottawa, an M.A. in Theology from Ottawa University, and an M.A. from St. Michael's College, University of Toronto. In 1971 he obtained his Ph.D. in Theology from Fordham University, New York.

Fordham had a working relationship with Union Theological Seminary and it was there, during his doctoral studies , that John experienced what he called a wholesale shift in his religious and theological orientation. He became intensely interested in the thought of Paul Tillich and wrote his doctoral thesis on Tillich and Bonaventure. Shortly before leaving New York, his doctoral mentor suggested that he read Jung upon his return home. Later that year, at a dinner party in a friend's apartment he came upon a copy of Memories, Dreams and Reflections belonging to the hostess. He borrowed it, read it, and never looked back. Tillich and Jung seemed to him to be brothers in spirit especially through what he came to understand as gnostic elements in their thought. John began studies at the C.G. Jung Institut in Zürich and graduated in 1980 with the Diploma in Analytical Psychology. He describes the path he followed from Aquinas to Tillich to Jung in his book The Intellectual Autobiography of a Jungian Theologian.

John Dourley taught at Carleton University where many of his graduate seminars in the Religious Studies Department focused on Jung. In 2001 he retired from academic teaching which left him freer