Biography of Fr. William Most

Fr. Most held doctorates in both classical languages and theology. For over 40 years, beginning in the 1940's, he taught undergraduates at Loras College in Dubuque, Iowa. Then at the end of the 1980's, while in his own mid-70's, Fr. Most moved to northern Virginia to take a position on the faculty of the Notre Dame Institute, a Pontifical institute offering a Masters Degree in religious studies.

Fr. Most's arrival in Virginia placed him on the doorstep of Trinity Communications, whose president, Jeff Mirus, had already published two of Fr. Most's books. In 1986, Trinity had also commissioned John Janaro to write a chapter-long life of Fr. Most, along with nine other outstanding American priests in a book called Fishers of Men.

Therefore, when Trinity founded the Catholic Resource Network (CRNET) in 1993, it was natural for Fr. Most to become both a theological advisor and an important member of CRNET's Ask the Experts panel, which fielded Catholic questions from users. When CRNET moved to the Internet and merged with the Eternal Word Television Network, Fr. Most continued this role in the Catholic Q&A section on EWTN's web site.

Author of numerous scholarly and popular books and articles covering such topics as grace, Scriptural interpretation, the role of Mary in the redemption, and many other topics, Fr. Most was internationally recognized as one of the premier faithful Catholic theologians of our time. His theological breakthroughs on difficult questions regarding grace, free will and the prerogatives of Mary are already legendary.

For the last few years of his life in the late 1990's, Fr. Most suffered limited mobility because of blood cancer. He could not teach in the classroom as often as he would have liked. Yet his spirit was more than willing and his keen mind still in demand. The result? His contribution online became even more important -- both to himself and to those who would learn from this great Catholic thinker.

Although that contribution is continued in The Most Database on PetersNet, Fr. Most himself has passed beyond theological speculation. In late January of 1999, he began to suffer a general system breakdown and he died shortly after 1:00 a.m. on January 31st at Prince William Hospital in Manassas, Virginia.

Fr. Most was 84 years old. He had spent well over sixty of those years in direct, active and faithful service to the Church for the glory of God and the salvation of souls.