Paulist Fr. Ernest Mort was born in Nebraska on December 19, 1931.
“I was intrigued by the goals and mission of the Paulists, especially the idea of being involved in dialogue with non-Catholics,” said Fr. Mort, who found the Paulists in a brochure he read during a retreat at St. Mary’s High School in Albuquerque, NM.
He wrote the vocations director for more information, visited the Paulists in Lubbock, TX, after graduation, and immediately applied for admission to the order.
He made his first promises to the Paulist Fathers on September 8, 1953, and was ordained a priest on May 1, 1959.
Since 1966, Fr. Mort had served in San Diego. He was director of the Newman Center at the University of California at San Diego from 1966 to 1969 and was dean of UC San Diego's Revelle College from 1969 to 1993.
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After his retirement, he continued to be part of the university committee that guides the Eugene Burke, C.S.P., Lectureship on Religion and Society.
Earlier in his priesthood, Fr. Mort served at the Catholic Information Center in Grand Rapids, MI; Good Shepherd Parish in New York City; and St. Thomas More Newman Center in Columbus, OH.
“I am profoundly grateful for the opportunity the Paulists gave me to work at the Ohio State Newman Center and at U.C. San Diego,” he said.
Fr. Mort entered eternal life on Sunday, January 19, 2020, in La Jolla, CA.
