Louis Billot

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Louis Cardinal Billot SJ (before 1927)

Louis Billot SJ (born January 12, 1846 in Sierck-les-Bains , France, † December 18, 1931 in Ariccia , Italy) was a French religious priest and theologian . In 1911 he was promoted to cardinal , his renunciation of the cardinal dignity in 1927 was the only one in the 20th century.

Life

Louis Billot studied at the seminaries in Metz , Bordeaux and Blois . He was ordained a priest on May 22, 1869, and joined the Jesuits in Angers six months later, on November 25 of the same year . Billot worked in Paris from 1875 to 1878, then in Laval until 1879 in pastoral care.

At the Catholic University of Angers , later known as the Catholic University of the West in Angers , he lectured from 1879 to 1882, on February 2, 1883, he made his profession during his scholasticism on the island of Jersey . In 1885 Billot was appointed professor of dogmatic theology at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome . In addition to his calling, on June 19, 1909, he was called to be consultor of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith .

As a passionate supporter of the scholasticism of Thomas Aquinas , Billot became one of the leading designers of metaphysical and speculative theology . His influence on Catholic theology can hardly be overestimated due to his numerous publications and his large group of students. Contrary to some assumptions Billot was not at the origin of the encyclical Pascendi Dominici Gregis by Pope Pius X. involved. In contrast, he played a central role in the indexing of Alfred Loisy . He is often mentioned as a close friend of Henri Le Floch (1862–1950), Rector of the French Seminary in Rome.

Pius X created Father Billot in the consistory of November 27, 1911 as cardinal and shortly thereafter appointed him cardinal deacon with the title deaconry Santa Maria in Via Lata . Cardinal Billot attended the 1914 conclave and 1922 conclave after Pius' death . He was one of the three cardinal presidents of the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas (Angelicum) in Rome, together with Benedetto Lorenzelli and Michele Lega ; probably because of this activity he was appointed to the Pontifical Biblical Commission on February 6, 1923 .

Billot's support for the extremist Action Française movement may have sparked initial tension between him and the Holy See . After Pope Pius XI. his condemnation of this movement announced because he was probably of the opinion that this movement would use Catholicism for its own political interests, Billot expressed his incomprehension about this, since the political activities of monarchist Catholics should not be "censored" by Rome. After a heated conversation with Pope Pius XI. He asked for his resignation on September 13, 1927, which the Pope accepted on September 21. Billot's request was not opened to the college of cardinals until the following consistory on December 19th. He is the only cardinal of the 20th century to resign from his cardinalate.

Billot died at the age of 85 as a simple priest in the Jesuit novitiate in Galloro near Ariccia . His grave is in the Campo di Verano Roman cemetery . The legacy of his Thomistic theology extends to the present day.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Martin Bräuer: Handbook of the Cardinals: 1846-2012 . Walter de Gruyter, Berlin / Boston 2014, ISBN 978-3-11-026947-5 , pp. 221 .
  2. ↑ Gerald A. McCool: Nineteenth-century Scholasticism: The Search for a Unitary Method. Fordham University Press, 1989.
  3. ^ Claus Arnold / Giacomo Losito: La censure d'Alfred Loisy (1903). Les documents des Congrégations de l´Index et du Saint Office. (Fontes Archivi Sancti Officii Romani 4), Libreria editrice vaticana, Vatican City 2009.
  4. ↑ TIME Magazine : Billot v. Pope , October 3, 1927
  5. ↑ The theory that in truth Pope Pius XI. asked him to resign, is often quoted, but cannot be proven.
personal data
SURNAME Billot, Louis
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Billot, Louis SJ
BRIEF DESCRIPTION French religious priest and theologian
DATE OF BIRTH January 12, 1846
PLACE OF BIRTH Sierck-les-Bains , France
DATE OF DEATH December 18, 1931
Place of death Ariccia , Italy