Augustin Bea | |
|---|---|
| President of theSecretariat for Promoting Christian Unity | |
 | |
| Appointed | 6 June 1960 |
| Term ended | 16 November 1968 |
| Predecessor | None |
| Successor | Johannes Willebrands |
| Other post | Cardinal–Deacon ofSan Saba |
| Previous posts |
|
| Orders | |
| Ordination | 25 August 1912 by Hermann Jürgens |
| Consecration | 19 April 1962 by Pope John XXIII |
| Created cardinal | 14 December 1959 by Pope John XXIII |
| Rank | Cardinal-Deacon |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Augustin Bea (1881-05-28)28 May 1881 Riedböhringen,German Empire |
| Died | 16 November 1968(1968-11-16) (aged 87) Rome, Italy |
| Nationality | German |
| Denomination | Roman Catholic |
| Motto | In nomine domini Jesu (In the name of the Lord Jesus) |
| Coat of arms |  |
Augustin BeaSJ (28 May 1881 – 16 November 1968) was a GermanJesuit priest,cardinal, and scholar at thePontifical Gregorian University, specialising in biblical studies andbiblical archaeology. He also served as the personalconfessor ofPope Pius XII.
He was made a cardinal in 1959 byPope John XXIII and served as the first president of theSecretariat for Promoting Christian Unity from 1960 until his death. Bea was a leadingbiblical scholar andecumenist, who greatly influenced Christian-Jewish relations during theSecond Vatican Council inNostra aetate. Bea published several books, mostly in Latin, and 430 articles.
| Styles of Augustin Bea | |
|---|---|
.svg) | |
| Reference style | His Eminence |
| Spoken style | Your Eminence |
| Informal style | Cardinal |
| See | Germania in Numidia (titular) |
Bea was born in Riedböhringen, today a part ofBlumberg, Baden-Württemberg;[1] his father was acarpenter. He studied at the universities ofFreiburg,Innsbruck,Berlin, and atValkenburg, theJesuit house of studies in theNetherlands. On 18 April 1902, he joined theSociety of Jesus, as he "was much inclined to the scholarly life".[2] Bea wasordained apriest on 25 August 1912, and finished his studies in 1914.
Bea served assuperior of the Jesuit residence inAachen until 1917, at which time he began teachingScripture at Valkenburg. From 1921 to 1924, Bea was theprovincial superior of Germany.Superior GeneralWlodimir Ledóchowski then sent him to Rome, where he worked as the superior of the Biennial House of Formation (1924–1928), professor at thePontifical Biblical Institute (1924–1949), andrector of the Institute of Superior Ecclesiastical Studies (1924–1930). In 1930, Bea was named rector of the Pontifical Biblical Institute, a post in which he remained for nineteen years.
When Pius XII proposed appointing Bea to theCollege of Cardinals in 1946, Superior GeneralJean-Baptiste Janssens spoke out against it, as many felt theHoly See was showing preferential treatment to the Jesuits.[3]Raised to the rank ofcardinal before hisepiscopal consecration, Bea was createdCardinal-Deacon ofS. Saba byPope John XXIII in theconsistory of 14 December 1959. On 6 June 1960, he was appointed the first president of the newly formedSecretariat for Promoting Christian Unity, aCurial organisation charged withecumenical affairs.[4] It was not until two years later that, on 5 April 1962, Cardinal Bea was appointed abishop: theTitular Archbishop ofGermania in Numidia. He received his consecration on the following 19 April from John XXIII himself, with CardinalsGiuseppe Pizzardo andBenedetto Aloisi Masella serving asco-consecrators, in theLateran Basilica. He resigned his post as titular archbishop in 1963, one year after theSecond Vatican Council was convened.
Cardinal Bea was one of theelectors in the1963 papal conclave which electedPope Paul VI,[5] and was confirmed as the president of theSecretariat for Promoting Christian Unity (renamed the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity byPope John Paul II on 28 June 1988) on 3 January 1966.
Cardinal Bea died from abronchial infection in Rome, at the age of 87.[6] He was buried in theapse of theparish church ofSaint Genesius in his native Riedböhringen,[4] where there is a museum honouring him.
TheencyclicalDivino afflante Spiritu (1943) was very much shaped by Bea and Jacques Marie Vosté, O.P. (secretary of the Pontifical Biblical Commission).[7][8]
Bea was highly influential at theSecond Vatican Council in the 1960s as a decisive force in the drafting ofNostra aetate, which repudiatedanti-Semitism. In 1963, he held secret talks withAbraham Joshua Heschel, promoting Catholic–Jewish dialogue.[9] John Borelli, a Vatican II historian, has observed that, "It took the will of John XXIII and the perseverance of Cardinal Bea to impose the declaration on the Council".[10] During a session of theCentral Preparatory Commission, he also rejected the proposition that the Council Fathers take an oath composed of theNicene Creed and theanti-modernist oath.[11] AfterAlfredo Ottaviani, the strongly conservative head of theHoly Office, presented his draft of theschema on the sources ofDivine Revelation, Bea claimed that it "would close the door to intellectual Europe and the outstretched hands of friendship in the old and new world";[12] The Pope appointed Ottaviani and Bea to be the co-chairs of a commission set up to revise the draft in order to resolve the deadlock,[13] leading ultimately to the presentation of revelation comprising bothscripture andtradition which featured in theDogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation (Dei Verbum).[14]
Bea was the author ofThe Church and the Jewish People (New York: Harper & Row, 1966) and marking the 50th anniversary of his death,Pope Francis called Cardinal Bea "an outstanding figure" who should not only be remembered for what he did, but also the way he did it. "He remains", the Pope said, "a model and a source of inspiration for ecumenical and interreligious dialogue, and in an eminent way for the "intra-familial" dialogue with Judaism".[15]
Bavarian Order of Merit
1954Grand Cross of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany
Grand Cross of the FrenchLegion of Honour
Grand Cross of the GreekOrder of George I
1960 Grand Cross of Merit of the Federal Republic of GermanyAugustin Bea published 430 articles in the years 1918–1968. They dealt with archaeological issues, exegesis of Old Testament texts, Mariology, papal encyclicals, the unity of Christians, anti-Semitism, Vatican II, relations to Protestantism and the eastern Orthodox Churches, and ecumenicism.
Among his books:
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| Preceded by | Oldest living member of the College of Cardinals 14 August – 16 November 1968 | Succeeded by |
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