Yves Congar
| His Eminence Yves-Marie-Joseph Congar O.P. | |
|---|---|
| Priest of The Order of Preachers | |
| Appointed | 25 July 1930 |
| Reign ended | 22 June 1995 |
| Other posts | Cardinal-Deacon of San Sebastiano al Palatino |
| Orders | |
| Ordination | 25 July 1930 |
| Created Cardinal | 26 November 1994 |
| Rank | Cardinal-Deacon |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 8 April 1904 Sedan, France |
| Died | 22 June 1995 (aged 91) |
| Nationality | French |
| Denomination | Roman Catholic |
Yves Marie Joseph Congar (8 April 1904, Sedan, Ardennes – 22 June 1995, Paris) was a French Dominican cardinal and Catholic theologian.
Contents |
Early life [edit]
Born in Sedan, in northeast France, in 1904, Congar's home was occupied by the Germans for much of World War I. During this time he kept extensive, illustrated diaries recording the occupation, which provide a unique historical insight into the war from a child's point of view.
In his early twenties, Congar spent three years in a Carmelite monastery where he encountered Thomistic philosophy through the works of the renowned lay philosopher Jacques Maritain and the Dominican theologian Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange.
Priest and POW [edit]
In 1925 he joined the Dominican Order at Amiens. Following his theological studies at the Saulchoir, the Dominican studium, which at the time was located in Kain-la-Tombe, Belgium, and offered strong training in historical theology, Congar was ordained a priest in 1930. During World War II he was drafted into the French army as a chaplain, and was held from 1940 to 1945 as a prisoner of war by the Germans in Colditz.
Scholar and ecumenist [edit]
After the war, he continued to teach and to write, eventually becoming one of the most influential theologians of the 20th century on the topic of the Roman Catholic Church and ecumenism,[1] and influenced also the thinking of Karol Wojtyła (the future Pope John Paul II) from the year 1946 onwards.[citation needed] Active in the ecumenical movement, Congar was once removed from teaching or publishing in 1954, during the pontificate of Pope Pius XII, following publication of an article in support of the ‘worker-priest’ movement in France.
However, his reputation was rehabilitated and became a prominent theological expert at Vatican Council II, where he was a member of a number of committees that worked on the drafting of conciliar texts, an experience that he documented in great detail in his daily journal. In November 1994 he was made a cardinal by Pope John Paul II.
Congar encouraged openness to ideas stemming from Protestant Christianity.[2] He promoted the concept of a 'collegial' Papacy.
He published on wide ranging topics, including Mary, the Eucharist, lay ministry and the Holy Spirit, as well as his diaries from his experiences during the Second Vatican Council. His works include The Meaning of Tradition, I Believe in the Holy Spirit, and After Nine Hundred Years, which addresses the East-West Schism. His personal experiences were recently published in Journal d’un theologien 1946–1956 and My Journal of the Council, published in French in 2002 and in English translation in 2012.
Selected works [edit]
- Divided Christendom: a Catholic Study of the Problem of Reunion, 1937
- Vraie et fausse réforme dans l’Eglise ("True and False Reform in the Church"), Paris: Editions du Cerf, 1950
- Leur résistance, 195? [3]
- The Mystery of the Temple, or the Manner of God's Presence to His Creatures from Genesis to the Apocalypse, 1962
- Report from Rome: on the First Session of the Vatican Council, translated by A. Mason, London: Chapman, 1963
- Report from Rome II: The Second Session of the Vatican Council, London: Chapman, 1964
- Power and Poverty in the Church, translated by Jennifer Nicholson, London: Chapman, 1964
- Lay People in the Church, translated by Donald Attwater, London: Chapman, 1965
- Dialogue Between Christians, London-Dublin: Chapman, 1996
- Mon Journal du Concile, (1946–1956), Paris: Cerf, 2002
- My Journal of the Council, English translation by Mary John Ronayne and Mary Cecily Boulding, Adelaide: ATF Theology, 2012
La Tradition et les traditions: Essai historique
References [edit]
- ^ Doyle, D.M., 'Journet, Congar, and the Roots of Communion Ecclesiology' Theological Studies 58 (1997): 461–479.
- ^ Hastings, Adrian, Modern Catholicism (1999, Oxford University Press)
- ^ Recommended by P. R. Reid in his memoir of Colditz Castle, The Latter Days, Hodder & Stoughton, London, 1953, p. 9.
External links [edit]
- Yves Congar on Encyclopædia Britannica
- Yves Congar on catholic-hierarchy.org
- Yves Congar: Apostle of Patience
- Yves Congar's pneumatology
- Works by or about Yves Congar in libraries (WorldCat catalog)
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
- 1904 births
- 1995 deaths
- People from Sedan, Ardennes
- Members of the Dominican Order
- French Roman Catholic priests
- French theologians
- Roman Catholic theologians
- Participants in the Second Vatican Council
- World War II chaplains
- World War II prisoners of war held by Germany
- French military personnel of World War II
- French cardinals
- French prisoners of war
- 20th-century Roman Catholic priests
- Colditz prisoners of World War II
- Cardinals created by Pope John Paul II
- French diarists
- French military chaplains
- French Army chaplains
