José O'Callaghan Martínez

José O'Callaghan Martínez SJ ( Catalan Josep O'Callaghan Martínez , born October 7, 1922 in Tortosa , Spain ; † December 15, 2001 in Barcelona ) was a Spanish Jesuit and theologian with a focus on biblical text criticism and papyrology .

José O'Callaghan entered the Jesuit Order in 1940. In 1952 he was ordained a priest. In 1953 he became a Bachelor at the Theological Faculty in Sant Cugat del Vallès . In 1959 he received his doctorate in philosophy and literature from the University of Madrid . In 1960 he received his doctorate in classical literature with a focus on papyrology from the University of Milan . From 1961 he taught at the theological faculty in Sant Cugat del Vallès. With the support of his brother-in-law Josep Palau Ribes, he built up an extensive papyrus collection, which was the basis for the subsequently established Seminario de Papirologia("Seminar for Papyrology") of the Theological Faculty. He also founded the journal Studia Papirologica in 1962 .

In 1971 he was appointed to the chair for papyrology at the Pontifical Biblical Institute in Rome and from this time onwards also taught several times as a visiting professor at the University of Urbino . From 1983 to 1986 he was Dean of the Institute's Biblical Faculty. In 1992 he finished teaching in Rome.

In 1972 he attracted scientific attention because he interpreted the text of the papyrus fragment 7Q5 as an early form of the Gospel of Mark . This would have meant that the gospel would have been written around AD 50. But this theory is now considered refuted.

Web links

• Prof. José O'Callaghan SJ (Italian, English)
• Josep O'Callaghan (Catalan)