Fr David Strong SJ, The Australian dictionary of Jesuit biography 1848-2015, Second Edition, 2017:
Moran, Valentine

Historian; born Dublin, 8 February 1913; died Melbourne, 25 November 1988, aged 75.

Val Moran attended Clongowes Wood College, Dublin, for his secondary education, and was a clever student, regularly taking the prizes in classics. He was also the school champion at tennis, captain of cricket and the opening bat, as well as a very useful second-row forward and goal kicker for the first XV rugby. In his last year he took the Union Gold Medal for English essay. He was also prefect of the Sodality and had the most Rabalaisian wit. He was a good mimic of various teachers.

Moran entered the Society at St Mary's Emo, 3 September 1930, and was sent to Australia as a novice because of poor health with tuberculosis. His ecclesiastical studies were all in Australia, and he gained a Bachelor of Arts degree with honours in classics, 1933-35, from the University of Melbourne. Regency was at Riverview, 1936-38, where he taught English, Latin and Greek, and was involved with senior debating and cricket.

Maybe the threat of death from an early age gave him a remarkable freedom and serenity, living quietly in the background, always present, emerging only when the moment was ripe, superb in timing, sharp in judgment but not in tone, humorous, eloquent, never using a word more than necessary.

He was a richly talented man, but never proclaimed his gifts ostentatiously. Above all, he was essentially very human and compassionate. He was easy to approach as spiritual father, and always gave wise counsel, while never intruding on one's personal space.

He was expert in the quick and telling comment about people and situations, usually accurate and humorous but pointed. His teasing of some was always in good fun. His obituaries of Jesuits were a delight to read.

He was an outstanding Church historian, and probably had an unrivalled knowledge of the Society's history and spirituality. He was a fine tertian master, not only in information communicated, but also in his spiritual discernment. His homilies at Mass were short and inspiring.

He was arguably the most interesting lecturer scholastics in the Australian province experienced. They were of such fascination that expiry of time was always a cause for genuine regret. During every lecture he paused for a light comment on some ecclesiastical practice or misdemeanour. Everyone waited for these enlightened words and applauded in an appropriate fashion, but Moran never paused in his presentation.

He had a wide appreciation of Church. He looked for moments of liberty, of opportunity in history, pointing out where he felt ecclesiastical dogmatism or fear had prevented the bearing of possible fruit. This was clearly why he was fascinated with Modernism and the 19th century in general.

Despite his illness that required much rest and care, Moran held many important positions of authority within the province. He was rector of the theologate, Canisius College, Pymble, 1957-62, was a province consultor for some years, assistancy tertian master 1969-74, delegate for formation, 1975-76, and province delegate for tertiary education, 1979-80. He wrote an article for Theological Studies, vol. 40, no 3, 1979, entitled 'Loisy's Theological Development', and he spent 1981 as a research scholar on modernism at the Casa Degli Scrittori, Rome. Articles on George Tyrrell appeared in The Downside Review, July 1984, entitled 'The Breakings of George Tyrrell', and in July 1985, 'George Tyrrell: Theological Journalist of Genius'. Other articles he wrote on Tyrrell were, 'George Tyrrell at war with the Society of Jesus', and 'Fr. Tyrrell and the censorship of his writings'. In 1988 he wrote another article, 'The Universal Catechism at Vatican I' for Pacifica vol. 1.

Moran's contribution to the Society in Australia was considerable and much appreciated especially by the scholastics with whom he shared his life and scholarship.

(Reproduced by permission of Fr David Strong SJ.)