Fr. Frederick M. Jelly, O.P. 

Professor at the International Marian Research Institute for many years, died on April 14, 2000, in Georgetown Medical Center in Washington following a lengthy illness. Fr. Fred was born June 20, 1927 in Bayonne, New Jersey, and, before entering the Dominicans in 1949, attended Seton Hall Prep and Seton Hall University. After studies at the Dominican House of Studies in Washington, D.C., he was ordained to the priesthood in 1956. He was professor of theology and philosophy at the Providence College, Prior of the Dominican House of Studies in Washington, D.C.; Academic Dean at the Pontifical College Josephinum; Visiting Professor of Theology at St. Thomas University in Dallas; and most recently Academic Dean and Professor of Systematic Theology at Mt. St. Mary’s, Emmitsburg, Maryland.

He was active in many academic organizations and noted for his abiding interest in Mariology and ecumenism. He was consultant to the American bishops in their pastoral letter, Behold Your Mother (1974). He was a longtime and very active member of the Mariological Society of America, serving as president of that organization 1976–1978. He assisted in establishing the American branch of the Ecumenical Society of the Blessed Virgin Mary and also served as president of that organization. In 1986, he authored Madonna: Mary in the Catholic Tradition, a work used as a basic text in Marian studies. He received the "Patron Medal" in 1993 from the Basilica Shrine of the Immaculate Conception and the Catholic University of America in recognition of his promotion of Marian studies.

He was involved in religious education and catechetics and wrote the section on Mary in the best-selling catechism The Teaching of Christ. He worked with the Catholic Home Study Institute to develop materials for religious education. Many of his conferences on religious topics are available on audio-cassette from Alba House.

He was chosen to participate as the Catholic representative in several ecumenical dialogues: the Lutheran-Roman Catholic Dialogue; the Anglican-Roman Catholic Bilateral Dialogue in the USA (1975); and the American Dialogue with the Southern Baptists (1982). His last published article reviewed the ecumenical conferences recorded in fifty years of Marian Studies, the journal containing the proceedings of the annual meeting of the Mariological Society of America.

In 1998, he was awarded the degree of Magister of Sacred Theology from the Dominican Prior General. The award was conferred by the Prior Provincial of the Dominican Friars of the Province of St. Joseph at a Vespers Service in St. Vincent Ferrer Church, New York City. Fr. Fred was a dedicated Thomist who strove to relate the teachings of St. Thomas to contemporary theology. He was a dedicated and respected teacher and a congenial and convivial colleague. He is survived by his sister, Sister Patricia Jelly, O.P., a Dominican Sister of Hope (Newburgh, New York), and by an uncle, the Reverend Monsignor Caesar G. Orrico.

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