George F. McLean

Rev. George F. McLean, OMI, 87, died on September 6, 2016, at the Immaculate Heart of Mary Residence, Tewksbury, Massachusetts, after a period of declining health. He was born in Lowell, Massachusetts, a son of the late Arthur and Agnes (McHugh) McLean. He was one of six children and was predeceased by two brothers, James McLean and Rev. Edward McLean, and two sisters, Mary, and Sr. Agnes Mary McLean, a Maryknoll Sister of St. Dominic, as well as his brother in law, Frank Carolan.
Fr. McLean was educated in Lowell through high school. He attended the Oblate minor seminary in Newburgh, New York; Gregorian University in Rome, Italy; and Catholic University in Washington, DC. He earned a Doctorate in Philosophy and a Bachelor Degree and Licentiate in Sacred Theology. He later pursued advanced studies in Indian Philosophy, Phenomenology and Islamic Philosophy.
Fr. McLean entered the Missionary Oblate Novitiate in Ipswich, Massachusetts, on September 7, 1948. He professed his first vows as a Missionary Oblate on September 8, 1949, followed by perpetual vows on September 8, 1952. The late Bishop Luigi Faveri of Roviano, Italy, ordained him to the priesthood in Roviano on July 10, 1955.
From 1956 until 1993, Fr. McLean was a professor at the Oblate College and the Catholic University of America, both in Washington, DC. In 1983, he founded and was Director of the Council for Research in Values and Philosophy in Washington, DC. As a multilingual speaker, his four languages were advantageous, as the council is comprised of prominent philosophers and social scientists from many countries. He coordinated seminars and workshops that sought to capture the gifts and values that Fr. McLean saw as inherent in the different cultures, traditions and faiths across the world and to encourage a multidisciplinary, collaborative and analytical approach to the discovery of how their unique threads of wisdom could be woven into a tapestry that would help us to relearn how to be human in global times.
He was an unofficial collaborator of Karol Wojtyla, having met him before he was elected pope, and shared his passion of the evangelization of culture. In the missionary spirit that was rekindled and directed by the Second Vatican Council, Fr. McLean taught that the Spirit of God was alive in every culture, and he spent his life helping people identify and engage that Spirit and announce it in a way that they could understand and share.
Due to declining health, early in 2010, Fr. McLean joined the community at the Immaculate Heart of Mary Residence in Tewksbury where he remained until his death. Despite physical challenges, he remained very involved in the Council for Research in Values and Philosophy. From his residence in Tewksbury, he continued to have an impact on the world. He continued, in recent weeks, to guide the work of the council and participate actively in its programs and editing its publications. In a conversation just days before his death, he spoke about how grateful he was for the dynamic missionary leadership that Pope Francis is awakening in the churches and told of how he would love to see the Holy Father address the 24th World Congress of Philosophy at Peking University in 2018. People around the world admired and respected him and his indefatigable spirit of inquiry, hospitality and generosity.
In addition to his Oblate family, Fr. McLean is survived by one sister, Agnes Carolan, of Lowell, Massachusetts; by four nephews: Edward, John, Timothy, and Gregory Carolan; by four nieces: Maryellen McLean, Elizabeth Musso, Martha Winrow, and Margaret Birchall; and by several grand-nephews and grand-nieces.