Rev. David N. Power

Rev. David N. Power, OMI
Missionary Oblate Priest for 57 years

WASHINGTON, DC -- Rev. David Noel Power, OMI, 81, died in Washington, DC, on June 19, 2014. He was born on December 14, 1932, in Dublin, Ireland, and was a son of the late David and Kathleen (Davis) Power.

Fr. Power entered the Oblate Novitiate in Chermoyle, Ireland, where he made his first vows in 1950. He made his perpetual vows in Roviano, Italy, in 1954, and was ordained a priest in Rome, Italy, on December 22, 1956. He obtained his doctorate in theology from the Pontifical Institute of Liturgy at the Pontifical University of St. Anselmo in Rome in 1968.

Fr. Power taught theology in Ireland at the Oblate seminary and at Maynooth, the diocesan seminary, as well as at the International Scholasticate, Gregorian University, and St. Thomas Aquinas University, all in Rome. In 1977, he was appointed Professor in the School of Theology and Religious Studies at Catholic University of America in Washington, DC. During his tenure there, he was appointed the Shakespeare Caldwell Davel Distinguished Professor and subsequently became Chairman of the theology department. Fr. Power was elected president of the North American Academy of Religion and lectured throughout the United States, Australia, Canada, Ireland, the Philippines, Pakistan, South Africa, Sri Lanka, and Zaire In 1992 he received the Berakah Award of the North American Academy of Liturgy. In 1996 he was honored with the John Courtney Murray award of the Catholic Theological Society of America for excellence in the field of theological scholarship. He authored numerous scholarly, practical, and pastoral books in the field of liturgical theology, and he contributed many articles to various theological publications. He was a member of Concilium, a post-Conciliar international journal of theology.

He was a visiting professor at the diocesan seminary in Tahiti (2001-2002). He was also a visiting professor in Ottawa, Canada (2002), and at the Oblate seminary in Zambia (2010-2011). He returned to the Oblate community in Washington, DC, where he lived until his death.

POWER -- Services were held June 23, 2014, at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, DC. Locally, services and calling hours will be held in the Chapel at the Immaculate Heart of Mary Residence, 486 Chandler Street, Tewksbury, Massachusetts. Calling hours will be on Wednesday, June 25, 2014, from 7:00-9:00 pm, with a Prayer Service at 7:30 pm. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at 11:00 am on Thursday, June 26, 2014. Interment will take place in the Oblate cemetery at the Immaculate Heart of Mary Residence. Donations in memory of Fr. Power may be made to the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate, c/o The Oblate Residence and Infirmary, 486 Chandler Street, Tewksbury, MA 01876. The McKenna-Ouellette Funeral Home, 327 Hildreth Street, Lowell, MA, is in charge of arrangements. For condolences or directions, please visit www.mckennaouellette.com.