St Joseph's Society
John Short was born on 23 May 1931 in Orrell Park. After attending St Mary’s College, Crosby, he went to St Joseph’s College, Upholland, and then to the Venerable English College in Rome to study for the priesthood.
He was ordained in Rome on 8th July 1956. He made his first journey to Rome by train with a fellow student who came from the Diocese of Portsmouth, Cormac Murphy-O’Connor, now Cardinal Archbishop of Westminster. During his final year of studies in Rome a student from the Diocese of Lancaster, Patrick Kelly, went to the English College, not knowing that he would one day be John Short’s Archbishop in Liverpool.
After taking a degree at Cambridge Father Short was appointed to the teaching staff at St Joseph’s College, Upholland. In 1974 he returned to Rome as Spiritual Director at the English College. He remained there until 1980 and is remembered for the wise advice and spiritual direction that he gave those studying for the priesthood.
He returned to the Archdiocese to serve as Parish Priest at Our Lady of Compassion, Formby, and in 1998 was appointed as Parish Priest of St Thomas More, Aigburth. He will be remembered as a caring and compassionate Parish Priest who was always willing to give of his time to listen to the problems of others before gently offering wise counsel. He was appointed as an Honorary Canon of the Metropolitan Cathedral Chapter.
He became a trustee of the Archdiocese and was appointed as a Vicar General, a role in which many appreciated his ability to listen, his wisdom and his kindness. He cared especially for any of his brother priests who were experiencing problems.
Throughout his ministry he was a great friend and supporter of The Grail, an Association of lay Catholics. He also worked with the Sisters of Notre Dame in the Archdiocese supporting them in their teaching ministry. In 1981 he was one of the first members of the newly formed Archdiocesan Child Protection Management Commission; work that brought distress but also an opportunity for him to bring healing and reconciliation through his strong faith and gently manner.
He was a lifelong and passionate supporter of the ecumenical movement and, without compromising his own beliefs, he welcomed initiatives to bring the Christian denominations closer together. He served on the Archdiocesan Ecumenism Commission and enthusiastically encouraged Christians throughout the area to work together for the spread of the Gospel. One of his last projects before retirement was to undertake a major survey to review ecumenical relations in the Archdiocese.
He retired in 2006 and sadly only a few months later his health began slowly to fail. He was, however, able to continue his life’s work of offering spiritual help and advice and in March 2007 was able to give a powerful presentation on Spirituality to a meeting of priests from the Archdiocese. He will be greatly missed by many who sought his wisdom on very many topics both spiritual and practical. As his health declined he went to live at Ince Blundell Hall where he died peacefully on the evening of Tuesday 2nd October 2007; his sister Claire, his brother Peter and Father David Heywood were with him. May he rest in peace.