GOODIER, Alban. - Jesuit, ascetical writer, archbishop of Bombay, b. at Great Harwood (Lancashire) on 14 Apr. 1869, d. at Teignmouth (Devonshire) on 13 Mar. 1939. He studied at the Jesuit College in Stonyhurst and in 1887 entered the Society of Jesus. He was professor and prefect of studies first at Roehampton (1905-14), then at St. Francis Xavier’s College in Bombay (1914-19), where he was also rector from 1917. In 1919 he was consecrated archbishop of Bombay.
He left a deep and lasting mark in the moral and social sphere; he founded St. Catherine’s Rescue Home, St. Anthony’s Homes for the destitute, and St. Elizabeth’s Nursing Home; but the difficulties and hardships undermined his health. Resigning his office in 1926, he retired to London, exercising various ministries and assisting the cardinal and archbishop of Westminster. In his final years he was chaplain to the Benedictine nuns at Teignmouth, where he devoted himself to writing his ascetical works, inspired by the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius.
Notable works: The Passion and Death of Our Lord (London 1930; Italian ed., Verona 1947); The Public Life of Our Lord Jesus Christ (2 vols., London 1931; Italian ed., Verona 1947); The Life that is Light (3 vols., London 1935); The Inner Life of the Catholic (ibid. 1935; Italian ed., Brescia 1935); An Introduction to the Study of Ascetical and Mystical Theology (London 1938).