Fr Merv Duffy SM is the 2016 recipient of the John Dunmore medal.
The John Dunmore Medal is awarded annually in recognition of major contributions to knowledge and better understanding of the part played by the French people and French culture in the scientific, economic, historical and cultural development of the Pacific.
The 2016 award made to Fr Duffy recognises his research and publications contributing to the knowledge of the early Marist missionaries in the Pacific.
Announcing the award in a press statement, The Federation of Alliances Françaises of New Zealand (FAFNZ) notes that besides theological articles in various publications, Fr Duffy has been a key figure in organising the translation into English of the earliest letters written by the French Marist missionaries who came to New Zealand and Western Oceania between 1836 and 1854, and that posted on the Marist Studies website, the translations create a valuable resource for historians and the wider public.
In addition to the theological articles and translations, Fr Duffy, along with Fr Alois Greiler SM, co-authored of Verguet’s Sketchbook, A Marist Missionary Artist in 1840s Oceania.
Verguet’s Sketchbook is an album of landscapes, people, birds and plants observed by Léopold Verguet; a priest who served in the Solomon Islands (1845-47) and who also visited New Zealand and New Caledonia.
Currently a lecturer in systematic theology and dean of studies at Good Shepherd College, Fr Duffy holds a license and doctorate in systematic theology from the Pontifical Gregorian University.
From 2017 Fr Duffy will be Acting-Rector of Good Shepherd College.