Stratford Caldecott

Dulwich College

Stratford Caldecott was born in 1953, in London, to parents who had left South Africa in 1951. The family espoused no particular religious beliefs. As a child, he was sickly and bedridden much of the time, and developed a close relationship with his mother. His father was a publisher with Penguin Books,[2] which fueled Stratford's love of reading. He attended Dulwich College. As a teenager Caldecott fell in love with America through his exposure to comic books, and their portrayal of the fight between good and evil, and the theme of hope. Between Dulwich and university he went to America, earning money as a 'mother's help' and stayed first with a family in New England before touring the continent by Greyhound bus. After a year, he attended Hertford College, Oxford on scholarship and studied Philosophy and Psychology.

After taking his degree, Caldecott pursued a career in publishing and education as a senior editor for publishers Routledge, HarperCollins, and T&T Clark. In 1977, he married fellow student Leonie Richards. The ceremony was held in an Anglican ceremony, in deference to her family. He and his wife had three daughters.

Caldecott says that at the age of fourteen he had what he terms "a philosophical insight" that there was more to the universe than matter and energy. His metaphysical samplings at Oxford led him to seek a religious tradition. Shortly after graduating, he became a member of the Baha'i faith. He later explored Sufism and Buddhism. He also began a correspondence with philosopher Robert Bolton, author of The Order of the Ages, The Logic of Spiritual Values, Self and Spirit, and The One and the Many: A Defense of Theistic Religion.[3]

Caldecott came to realize that the stories which had informed his early youth, stories of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, the Quest of the Holy Grail, and the Narnia books of C.S. Lewis and Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings reflected a Christian worldview. "All along, my imagination had been built on a Christian foundation, and I had never noticed it before. I knew now that in some sense, on some level, I was already a Christian."[4] His reading then turned to Gilson, Maritain and Aquinas. In 1980 he was baptised into the Catholic Church. This was not well received by his father, who viewed Catholicism as "worse than apartheid".

Caldecott taught a course called "Christianity and Society" at Plater College in Headington, on the other side of Oxford.

Caldecott was a G. K. Chesterton Research Fellow at St. Benet's Hall, Oxford. His devotion to Chesterton led to his becoming something of an expert on him.[2] He also served as a commissioning editor for the Catholic Truth Society.

From 2010, he and his wife Leonie, served as co-editors of the UK and Ireland edition of Magnificat.[5] He also became the founding editor of the journal "Humanum", under the aegis of the Washington DC John Paul II Institute.

As a teenager Caldecott had fallen in love with America because of its comic books. He loved the fight between good and evil, and the theme of hope that the comics portrayed. When he was dying from prostate cancer in May 2014, he was too ill to see the latest Avenger's movie, Captain America: The Winter Soldier in the cinema and he was not expected to survive long enough for the Blu-Ray release. His daughter, Sophie Caldecott Lippiatt, initiated an online campaign to persuade the producer Marvel Studios and distributor Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures to send a copy so that he could watch it at home. Many actors who have portrayed Marvel characters posted selfies with a "Cap for Strat" sign in support of the request.[16] In response, Marvel agreed to arrange an exclusive advanced screening on DVD for Caldecott at his home. Ms. Lippiatt, who blogs under the name Sophie Caldecott, stated, ""He doesn't like the limelight, but is so very touched. It means a lot to him that this isn't just about blessing his last days, but also about a wider campaign to raise awareness about prostate cancer."[17] This was particularly poignant because a late diagnosis had taken away Caldecott's chance of a longer life.

Caldecott's final thoughts on life and faith, death and eternal life were presented in an essay published in the online journal The Imaginative Conservative.[18] His funeral Mass was celebrated at the Oxford Oratory on Thursday, July 31.[1] He is buried in Wolvercote Cemetery, Oxford, near Tolkien, his literary hero.[19]

His life and passing were noted in the U.S. and Europe and by The American Conservative, and Hollywood stars such as Chris Hemsworth and Robert Downey, Jr. (The Denver Post noted their participation in a project to honor him.)

The news of his death touched an international array of people who considered him a polymath, one of the most influential contemporary Catholics of the Anglophone world, an inspiration, a trustworthy thinker and a prolific contributor to the Catholic intellectual tradition. Kathy Schiffer of Ave Maria Radio, described Caldecott as "a giant in the Catholic world".[20] Pierpaolo Finaldi, Managing Editor of The Catholic Truth Society, noted Caldecott's "encyclopaedic knowledge of the faith".[19] Michael J. Lichens, editor of the website Catholic Exchange, described Caldecott as "...without a doubt, the most powerful voice for Catholic culture in the Anglophone world."[5]

Caldecott's influence continues to grow, despite his death, as others study his enormous body of work. He is cited, for instance, in Joseph Pearce's Catholic Literary Giants, Charlotte Ostermann's Souls at Rest, and Paul Kerry's The Ring and the Cross. In the tradition of the Catholic communio movement, he made a contribution of lasting significance to the work of returning all things to Christ fulfilled through the Faith.

His own citations of the work of his contemporaries leads his readers to the work of authors such as Aidan Walker, Tracey Rowland, D.C. Schindler, John Milbank, Aidan Nichols, David Clayton, Carol and Philip Zaleski, Archbishop Javier Martinez, Jean Borella, David L. Schindler, and Mary Taylor, among many others. Caldecott is a figure of unique importance as a bridge builder, whose wide-ranging interests continue to draw people together in a friendship of rich ideas and aspirations.

David B. Burrell recommends The Grandeur of Reason and notes particularly Caldecott's approach to the problem of a perception of polarity between faith and reason by explicit attention to culture.[21]

Peter Casarella cites "The Marian Dimension of Existence" in Healy and Schindler, eds. Being Holy in the World in "Public Reason and Intercultural Dialogue" in At the Limits of the Secular: Reflections on Faith and Public Life, William A. Barbieri, Jr. ed, Eerdmans 2014.[22]

Apart from his writing, Caldecott established an international network of relationships he developed and in his interest in the work of others as in his own original thinking. The many tributes that appeared after his death help to convey a sense of that richness.[23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30]

In 2014, a volume of essays in his honor, The Beauty of God's House was published posthumously and received its own positive reviews. Canadian Cardinal Marc Ouellet and Nottingham Professor John Milbank were contributing essayists.[31]

• Caldecott, Stratford. "Gnosis and Grace", Caldecott's account of his conversion