FR. EDGAR JAVIER, a longtime faculty member at the UST Ecclesiastical Faculties and a Divine Word missionary known for his scholarship in missiology, died on Sept. 8. He was 77.
The University announced Javier’s death in a Facebook post.
“The University of Santo Tomas is one with the bereaved family and brothers of Rev. Fr. Edgar Javier, SVD, who joined our Creator,” the post read.
Javier began teaching at the Ecclesiastical Faculties as a guest professor in 2004.
The Society of the Divine Word (SVD), in a statement quoted by CBCP News, said Javier died at about 10 a.m. on Sept. 8.
“We entrust him to God’s loving embrace and give thanks for his life of service, compassion, and missionary zeal,” the SVD said.
Javier also served as a visiting professor at the SVD School of Theology in Vietnam, the University of St. Joseph in Macau and Saint Alphonsus Theologate in Davao.
He was also a director and professor at the Divine Word Institute of Mission Studies in Tagaytay.
The Divine Word Mission Seminary, where Javier had taught, remembered him as a “steadfast presence” in its academic community.
“A true missionary, he dedicated his life to the service of the Gospel. As a professor, he shared his intellectual gifts with clarity and compassion, inspiring countless seminarians to deeper devotion to the faith,” the seminary said.
Javier earned his undergraduate degrees in philosophy and sacred theology from the Divine Word Seminary in Tagaytay.
He obtained his licentiate in missiology from the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome in 1982 and his doctorate in missiology in 1985.
Javier devoted decades to scholarship on missiology, sociology and indigenous peoples, authoring several books, including “The Mangyans of Mindoro, Philippines: Progress through Christian Community Building,” “Justice, Peace, and Human Development in the Pacific” and “Dialogue: Our Mission Today.”
