Gustav Gundlach

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Gustav Gundlach (born April 3, 1892 in Geisenheim , † June 23, 1963 in Mönchengladbach ) was a German Jesuit . The Catholic social ethicist, social philosopher and social scientist is considered to be a representative of Catholic social teaching of the early 20th century.

Life

After attending the Kaiser-Friedrichs-Gymnasium (today: Heinrich-von-Gagern-Gymnasium) in Frankfurt am Main , he studied philosophy at the University of Freiburg im Breisgau . There he became a member of the Catholic student association KDSt.V. Hohenstaufen in the CV . After five semesters he dropped out and joined the Jesuit order .

Since 1929 he has held a professorship for social philosophy and ethics at the Sankt Georgen University of Applied Sciences in Frankfurt am Main. In addition, he was from 1934 to 1962 professor at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome. He was one of the close advisers of Popes Pius XI. (Encyclical Quadragesimo anno , 1931) and Pius XII. whose social doctrine was strongly influenced by German Jesuits. Gundlach had a very formative influence on the social ethicists Wilhelm Weber and Anton Rauscher, but also on the Swiss theologian Hans Küng, as he himself wrote in his memoirs "Fighted Freedom" in 2002.

Pope John XXIII first turned to Gundlach for a draft of his social encyclical Mater et magistra (1961), but was disappointed by the doctrinal style of the concept. Gundlach left Rome and set up a Catholic social research center in Mönchengladbach in 1962 , which continued Gundlach's approaches in later years. For decades, the Catholic Social Science Center was the coordination and control center for social Catholicism in Germany and beyond. After the appointment of Professor Joseph Höffner as Bishop of Münster, Gundlach accepted a teaching position for Christian social science at the University of Münster.

criticism

Since Gundlach increasingly upgraded private property to an absolute right, he already lost approval among theology students in Rome in the 1950s. He was asked critically: “If private property has such a high status, was there also private property in Paradise?” Hans Küng recounts the anger with which Gundlach wanted Msgr. Montini (later Pope Paul VI ) to “liquidate” around 1950 “(Because he advocated worker participation in the factories; Gundlach died suddenly, less than 48 hours after he was elected Pope).

In his misinterpretation of a text by Pope Pius XII. Following Bellum iustum on the just war , Gundlach asserted that a nuclear defense war would be morally justified.

In the writing Bellum iustum by Pope Pius XII. it is a reinterpretation of the doctrine of the just war , which developed on the basis of texts by St. Augustine (354-430). This reinterpretation by Pius XII. was heavily influenced by the Cold War and a potential nuclear conflict between the US and the Soviet Union .

While Pius XII. Gundlach assumed that the use of the atom bomb within the narrowest limits was morally justified when the freedom, dignity or faith of a people are threatened, Gundlach assumed that these words meant the “protection of the Christian faith”.

Gundlach countered the knowledge of the multiple overkill in relation to nuclear weapons with the argument that the destruction of the world was a manifestation of God and that the world was not created for eternity anyway. At the same time, however, Gundlach declined responsibility for the decision to initiate a nuclear war:

“... if the world were to end, that would not be an argument against our argument. Because, firstly, we are certain that the world will not last forever, and secondly, we are not responsible for the end of the world. We can then say that the Lord God, who through his providence has led us into such a situation or let us come into such a situation where we have to make this declaration of fidelity to his order, then also takes responsibility. "

(This position was clearly rejected by social ethicists, but also by canon lawyers such as Alfredo Ottaviani and, following him, by Vatican II , especially Gaudium et Spes No. 82.)

See G. Gundlach : The Doctrine of Pius XII from Modern War (StZ 164 (1958–1959), 13).

In the Lexicon for Theology and Church , published by the Regensburg Bishop Michael Buchberger , Gundlach wrote that a “ state-politically oriented direction of anti-Semitism ”, represented by means that are morally and legally justifiable in his eyes, is legitimate to oppose the “ assimilation Jews who [... ] in the camp of the world plutocracy as well as the world bolshevism [...] have a destructive effect ”. He rejects racially justified anti-Semitism, but defends measures of the church “against the influence of economic and social life . spiritual Judaism ” .

Honors

Works

  • Gustav Gundlach: The order of human society. 2 vol. Edited by the Catholic Social Science Central Office Mönchengladbach . Cologne 1964.
  • Gustav Gundlach: Responsible Christianity in Society and State. Lectures were given at the annual meeting of the Association of Catholic German Women . Paderborn 1958.

literature

  • Anton Rauscher SJ:  Gundlach, Gustav. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 7, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1966, ISBN 3-428-00188-5 , p. 316 ( digitized version ).
  • Johannes Schwarte: Gustav Gundlach SJ (1892-1963). Authoritative representative of Catholic social teaching during the pontificate of Pius XI and Pius XII . Schöningh, Munich / Paderborn / Vienna 1975, ISBN 3-506-70209-2 .
  • Anton Rauscher: Gustav Gundlach: 1892 - 1963 . Schöningh, Munich et al. 1988, ISBN 3-506-70862-7 .
  • Anton Rauscher: Gustav Gundlach 1892 - 1963. In: Contemporary history in life pictures. Vol. 2. Münster: Aschendorff 2000, pp. 159–176.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Manfred Hermanns: Social ethics in the course of time. Paderborn: Schöningh 2006, p. 310
personal data
SURNAME Gundlach, Gustav
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German Catholic social ethicist, social philosopher and social scientist
DATE OF BIRTH April 3, 1892
PLACE OF BIRTH Geisenheim , Rheingau
DATE OF DEATH June 23, 1963
Place of death Mönchengladbach