Francis Durning

Francis (Frank) Durning SM was a New Zealand priest of the Roman Catholic Church.

Durning was born in Glasgow on 12 May 1914, and his family emigrated to New Zealand. He was ordained as a priest with the Society of Mary (Marist) on 11 December 1938.

Durning taught in Catholic institutions from the 1940s through to the late 1980s, among others at:

• St Bede's College, Christchurch
• Chanel College, Moamoa, in Samoa
• St Patrick's College, Silverstream, where he was Rector of the school from 1950-1955
• St Patrick's College, Kilbirnie, Wellington
• Holy Cross College, Mosgiel

Durning died on 13 April 1999.

In 2018 the Society of Mary said that Francis Durning sexually abused children.