Pierre-Marie Théas

Pierre-Marie Théas (born on September 14, 1894 in Barzun, Pyrénées-Atlantiques-died on April 3rd 1977,aged 82) was a French Roman Catholic bishop. He was ordained on September 16, 1920 as a priest. He was consecrated as the Bishop of Montauban, France, on July 26, 1940. He was present at the last days of Spanish President Manuel Azaña, and offered support to his widow.

He wrote a pastoral letter condemning the Nazi deportation of Jews in the summer of 1942 in which he said: "I give voice to the outraged protest of Christian conscience and I proclaim… that all men, whatever their race or religion, have the right to be respected by individuals and by states." For his attempts to prevent the Jewish deportations and persecutions he would become one of the few individuals who received the honorary title: "Righteous Among The Nations".

Théas continued to oppose the Nazi policies culminating in a fiery sermon in his cathedral in which he condemned the "Cruel and inhuman treatment of one of our fellow men" in 1944. He was arrested the night after the sermon by the Gestapo. He was sent to a concentration camp where he spent 10 weeks and then was released and returned to his parish.[1]

After the war he was installed as the Bishop of Tarbes and Lourdes on February 17, 1947 and retired on February 12, 1970.[2] He was most noted for his belief in Liberation Theology. He has been credited as saying:

"Urged on by unrestrainable forces, today's world asks for a revolution. The revolution must succeed, but it can succeed only if the Church enters the fray, bringing the Gospel. After being liberated from Nazi dictatorship, we want to liberate the working class from capitalist slavery."

He died on April 3, 1977.

Works

He wrote two books:

• Ce Que Croyait Bernadette (The Faith of Bernadette)
• Ce Que Croyait Le Vierge Marie (The Faith of the Virgin Mary).