Fr Sidney Griffith: Memory Eternal!

Fr Sidney Griffith was virtually the founder of the study of Christian Arabic in English, both as a writer, teacher and interlocutor to many. He will be very deeply missed. 

His department has shared the following announcement with the NASCAS mailing list:

I write with a heavy heart to share the news that Fr. Sidney H. Griffith, Professor Emeritus of Semitics at the Catholic University of America, passed away on July 1, 2026 in Maryland. 

Fr. Griffith was born in 1938 in Gaithersburg, Maryland where he attended school until 1952 when he began studies at the John Carroll High School in Washington, DC. He subsequently joined the Missionary Servants of the Most Holy Trinity and attended the congregation’s minor seminary in Alabama and major seminary in Monroe, Virginia. He was ordained as a priest in 1965. 

In 1965, Fr. Griffith began the first of his many years at the Catholic University of America by earning an M.S. in Library Science and a Licentiate in Sacred Theology the following year (1966). Fr. Griffith then began studies in the Department of Semitic and Egyptian Languages and Literatures where he would remain for the rest of his career. He earned his PhD in Semitic and Egyptian Languages and Literatures in 1978. Fr. Griffith joined the faculty of Catholic University in 1977 and was promoted to ordinary professor in 2001. He held this position until his retirement in 2014. 

Fr. Griffith was internationally renowned as a scholar of Syriac and early Arabic Christianity. His numerous scholarly works include studies of the famous Syriac thinker Ephrem the Syrian, early Syriac asceticism, early Arabic Christian theology, and interreligious dialogue and spirituality. Fr. Griffith was the author of over 130 articles and seven books, including the award-winning The Church in the Shadow of the Mosque: Christians and Muslims in the World of Islam (2008); The Bible in Arabic (2013); Yahyā ibn ʿAdī, The Reformation of Morals: A Parallel English-Arabic Text Translated and Introduced (1992); and A Treatise on the Veneration of the Holy Icons Written in Arabic by Theodore Abû Qurrah, Bishop of Harrān (c. 755–c. 830 A. D.) (1997). His Marquette Lecture of 1997 was published as Faith Adoring the Mystery: Reading the Bible with St. Ephraem the Syrian.

Numerous institutions have recognized Fr. Griffith for his work. He was awarded fellowships from Dumbarton Oaks, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and the Institute for Advanced Studies. From 1986 to 1988 he was President of the North American Patristics Society; he also served as president of the Byzantine Studies Conference (1990–1991) and of the American Oriental Society (2007–2008). In 2009, he received a Rumi Peace Award for his work in interfaith dialogue. For over a decade he was a member of the Eastern Orthodox-Roman Catholic Dialogue and was a frequent participant in various forms of Christian-Muslim dialogue.

Fr. Griffith was a pillar of the Catholic University of America community, having served as chair of the Department of Semitic and Egyptian Languages and Literatures for three terms, as director of the Center for the Study of Early Christianity from 1984–1999, and as secretary of the Institute of Christian Oriental Research for decades. He trained numerous graduate students in the languages and literatures of the Christian Near East, many of whom went on to become notable scholars in the field.

Colleagues, students, and friends remember Fr. Griffith for his engaging conversations and his scholarly generosity. Fr. Griffith was always eager to work through a text with students or colleagues, sharing their curiosity and offering insights from his immense learning. His generosity, knowledge, and humility will be missed by all who had the privilege of knowing him.