Louis Rétif

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Louis Rétif (born July 17, 1911 in Angers , † February 18, 1985 in Dingy-en-Vuache ) was a French Roman Catholic clergyman and author.

life and work

The worker missionary

Rétif, whose parents ran a butcher's shop, grew up with three siblings. His younger brother André (* 1914) became a Jesuit. He himself attended the Angers seminary (where he had a lifelong friendship with Guy-Marie Riobé ). During his military service as a nurse, he joined the congregation of Sons of Christian Love in Paris . He was ordained a priest in 1937. Until 1939 he was a chaplain in a workers parish in Le Kremlin-Bicêtre . Then he made in the parish of the Sacred Heart in Petit Colombes (City Colombes ) together with Father Georges Michonneau (1899-1983) and Kaplan Pierre Thivollier (1910-2004), a pastoral team for the recovery of the workers of this industrial district in accordance with the by Cardinal Emmanuel Suhard founded Mission de France . The experience gained in Petit Colombes was recorded by the team in the book Paroisse, communauté missionnaire published in 1945 (and with a foreword by Suhard) . From 1947 to 1964 Rétif himself was pastor there and continued the re-evangelization of the working class , which Suhard's successor, Cardinal Maurice Feltin , wanted. He was a leading actor in the mission ouvrière and also in the experiment of the worker priests in the focus of events.

The author and lecturer

From 1964 to 1976 he was released from parish service for health reasons (successor: Jean Leroy, 1923–2012) and traveled all over the world as a spiritual lecturer. Rétif wrote numerous articles in the Catholic magazines Témoignage Chrétien and La Croix and gave spiritual addresses on Radio Luxemburg for nine years, which were published. He also published a dozen books (some of which have been translated into several languages). After the tragic death of Bishop Riobé, he was President of the Guy Marie Riobé Society from 1979 to 1983. From 1976 until his death he was in Raclaz ( Haute-Savoie ) spiritual supervisor of the home "La Source" (The Source), founded and run by Suzanne Bonnin († 2010) for the temporary stay of single penniless women. The statement handed down by him is prophetic: "L'esprit souffle beaucoup à la périphérie de l'Église". (The Spirit blows especially on the fringes of the Church).

Works

  • Catéchisme et milieux de vie . Center national du Mouvement chrétien de l'enfance, Paris 1946.
  • Catéchisme et missions ouvrières. You catéchisme au catéchuménat. Simple réflexions pastorales . Cerf, Paris 1950, 1983.
  • Si tu savais le don de Dieu. Essai pédagogique d'initiation à la messe selon les perspectives pastorales de Catéchisme et mission ouvrières . Secrétariat paroissial, Colombes 1951.
  • (with Aimon Marie Roguet, Jean Daniélou, SJ, Yves Congar, OP and Pierre Herbin): Le mystère de la mort et sa célébration. Vanves, April 27-29, 1949 . Cerf, Paris 1956.
  • (with Alfred de Soras) Le mystère pascal. Say rédemptrice et engagement . Éditions du Vitrail, Paris 1958.
  • (with Lucette Leprêtre) Le missel des petits . Fleurus, Paris 1959.
  • (with André Rétif) Pour une église en état de mission . A. Fayard, Paris 1961, 1963.
    • (English) The Mission of the Church in the World. Burns & Oates: London 1962.
      • The Church's mission in the world. New York: Hawthorn Books, 1962.
        • Paulist Press, Glen Rock, NJ, © 1964.
    • (Spanish) Para una Iglesia en estado de misión. Casal i Vall, Andorra 1962.
    • (Italian) La Chiesa in stato di missione. Edizioni Paoline, Catania 1963.
    • (Catalan) L'Església en estat de missió. Estela, Barcelona 1963.
  • Je crois en l'homme . A. Fayard, Paris 1962.
    • (Spanish) Yo creo en el hombre. Madrid 1964.
  • Vivre c'est dialoguer. Causeries de Radio-Luxembourg . Fleurus, Paris 1964, 1966, 1967 (also in Spanish 1968).
  • In the? connais pas . Private, Toulouse 1967.
  • La souffrance pourquoi? Centurion, Paris 1967.
  • Docker et prêtre, André Bergonier. Un témoin qui nous interroge . Casterman, Paris 1968.
  • (with André Rétif) Teilhard et l'évangélisation des temps nouveaux . Editions ouvrières, Paris 1970.
  • J'ai vu naître l'Église de demain . Editions ouvrières, Paris 1971, 1972 (also Italian 1972).
  • Les incroyants ont bousculé ma foi . Centurion, Paris 1972.
  • Une église qui bouge . Cerf, Paris 1976.
  • Aux rythmes de la vie, la prière . Centurion, Paris 1981.

literature

  • Jean Leroy and François Bonnin: Louis Rétif. Fils de la Charité. Prophet en son pays . La Source, Valleiry 1986.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. Leroy / Bonnin 1986, p. 96