Father John T. Brinkman, MM

Born: April 26, 1942
Ordained: May 22, 1971
Died: July 11, 2025

Father John T. Brinkman died on July 11, 2025 in the Peconic Bay Medical Center in Riverhead, New York. He was 83 years old and a Maryknoll priest for 54 years.

John Tivnan Brinkman was born on April 26, 1942 in the Yorkville section of Manhattan, New York, one of three children of Thomas Francis Brinkman and Margaret Tivnan Brinkman. He attended kindergarten at St. Ignatius of Loyola and went to St. Monica’s Grammar School in Manhattan. He graduated from Archbishop Molloy High School/St. Ann’s Academy in 1960. He entered Maryknoll at Glen Ellyn, Illinois in 1960 and received his BA in Philosophy in 1964. John left Maryknoll in 1967 and taught in the faculties of Philosophy and Theology at St. Francis College in Bidderford, Maine for two years. During this time, he met Fr. Thomas Berry of Fordham University at a summer 1968 core-curriculum workshop at Boston College. He re-entered the Maryknoll Society in September 1969. He received his Bachelor of Divinity (1970) and Master of Arts (1971) Degrees at the Maryknoll School of Theology. His initial overseas training program was in Guatemala in the summer of 1970, and he was ordained a priest on May 22, 1971. He was assigned to the Japan Region that year.

Early in his missionary life, Father Brinkman showed keen interest in the field of History of Religions. In Japan, his interests were Japanese philosophy and spirituality. Sponsored by the Japan Region, he enrolled in doctoral studies. He matriculated at Fordham University, studied at Columbia University and was a resident graduate student at the Riverdale Center for Religious Research under Thomas Berry. In this field, his published volume was Simplicity, a Distinct Quality of Japanese Spirituality in the Asian Thought and Culture Series of Peter Lang Publications, 1996. He taught at Fordham University and at the Institute of Asian Studies, St. John’s University. During this academic period, he was an editor of the United Nations Environment Programme volume:  Earth and Faith, and served on the advisory committee for the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ statement on climate change:  A Plea for Dialogue, Prudence, and the Common Good.

Father Brinkman was a historian of religions whose work had particular reference to East Asia and Japan. He focused his research on ecology and religion. He delivered various lectures to Catholic audiences, such as a workshop on “Chinese Thought, Catholic Insight and the Environment” for priests and religious from mainland China at Maryknoll, New York. He also presented on “Ecology and Mission” at the April 2009 Maryknoll Younger Asian Missioners Conference in Hong Kong, and discussed “Harmony in Nature and in Buddhist-Catholic Insight” at the November 2009 Maryknoll Asian Colloquium on Esoteric Buddhism in Japan. He gave two presentations, “Climate Change Vulnerability” and “Ecology and Eucharist,” to the Federation of Asian Bishops’ Planning Commission in Bangkok in October 2010.

Father Brinkman’s contributions to the Asian inter-religious environmental dialogue were highlighted in the “Climate Change-Cancun Update and Inter-faith Insight” workshop at the 2011 Asian Muslim Action Network’s International Assembly on Multi-Culturalism and Global Peace. His article, “The Climate Change Conference from Copenhagen to Cancun,” was published in the December 2010 edition of the Japan Mission Journal. Having participated in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) since the 1997 conference in Japan, Father Brinkman remained involved in these important climate discussions for many years.

In 2018 Father Brinkman was assigned to the U.S. Region with Senior Missioner Status. He resided in Long Island, New York. He was assigned to the Senior Missioner Community in November 2023.

Father Brinkman is survived by his sister, Mary Jane Seitz.

Wake services were held on July 16, 2025 in the Holy Spirit Chapel and the Queen of Apostles Chapel at the Maryknoll Society Center. Mass of Christian Burial followed at 11:00 a.m. and was concelebrated in the Queen of Apostles Chapel. Father John McAuley was the Celebrant and homilist. Father William Grimm read the biography and Father Alfonso Kim read the Oath. According to his wishes, Father Brinkman was cremated following the Funeral Mass and his ashes will be interred in Ireland.