Ludwig Hödl

Ludwig Hödl (born November 19, 1924 in Sonnen ; † May 22, 2016 in Bochum ) was a German Roman Catholic theologian and professor of dogmatics and the history of dogma at the Ruhr University in Bochum .

Live and act

Ludwig Hödl was born on November 19, 1924 as one of four children of Josef and Maria Hödl in Sonnen , Lower Bavaria. After attending the Sonnen elementary school from 1931 to 1935, he switched to the Humanist High School in Passau , where he graduated from high school in the summer of 1943. Immediately afterwards Ludwig Hödl was drafted into military service on the Russian front, most recently as lieutenant d. R. In the summer of 1945 Hödl returned to Sonnen after he was able to escape from captivity.

Hödl studied Catholic theology and philosophy in Passau. On June 29, 1951, he was ordained a priest in Passau by Bishop Simon Konrad Landersdorfer . After his primacy in Sonnen, he took up his first position as a chaplain in the Grafenau parish on August 1, 1951 . Just one year later, Ludwig Hödl was released from the Passau diocese to study for a doctorate. In 1955 he was awarded a doctorate in the Catholic Theological Faculty of the Ludwig Maximilians University in Munich with a dissertation on medieval theology of the sacraments supervised by Michael Schmaus . theol. PhD. It appeared in 1956 under the title "The basic questions of the doctrine of the sacraments according to Hervaeus Natalis OP". From 1955 to 1958 he stayed for handwriting studies on a grant from the German Research Foundation in Munich, Rome (Bibliotheca Vaticana) and Paris. In 1958 he completed his habilitation at the University of Munich with a thesis on the "History of Scholastic Literature and the Theology of the Power of Keys ". It was published in 1960 in the renowned series "Contributions to the History of Philosophy and Theology of the Middle Ages", of which Hödl himself was to become co-editor 1968-2006. As early as 1959, he was appointed professor for dogmatics and theological propaedeutics at the Catholic-Theological Faculty of the Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn . In the summer semester of 1964, Ludwig Hödl was appointed to the chair for dogmatics and the history of dogma at the Catholic-Theological Faculty of the Ruhr-Universität Bochum , which was then newly founded , to which he remained very attached even after his retirement in 1990. In 1974 Hödl turned down a call request from the Pontifical Institute of Medieval Studies Toronto. In 1975 he was scientific director of the distance learning course for Catholic theology. In the years 1979–1982 Hödl was a member of the central commission for the promotion of young scientists, 1982–1984 then as chairman of this commission. At times Hödl also worked as an expert reviewer for Catholic theology for the German Research Foundation .

The main focus of his research activities included medieval-scholastic theology and philosophy in all its breadth. In these areas he published a large number of scientific articles, especially on the doctrine of God, theological anthropology, ecclesiology and the doctrine of the sacraments, especially on the general doctrine of the sacraments, the sacrament of penance and especially on the doctrine of the Eucharist and transubstantiation . Right up to old age he occupied himself with theological research into the work of Thomas Aquinas , whom he particularly valued , with the Thomistic tradition, including Meister Eckhart , but also extensively with the traditions critical of Thomas, e. B. with Heinrich von Gent . Mention should also be made of his co-editing of "Contributions to the Philosophy and Theology of the Middle Ages", his collaboration on the edition of the Opera omnia of Heinrich von Gent († 1293) published in Leuven, Belgium, his co-editing (specialist advisor "Scholastic Theology") of the " Lexicon of the Middle Ages ”as well as the systematic development, correction and continuation of the “ Repertory of the Latin Sermons of the Middle Ages ”based on Johann Baptist Schneyer . Hödl was u. a. Member of the Görres Society , the Societé internationale pour l'étude de la philosophie médiévale and the Medievalist Association (1987–1990 on the advisory board).

"Through his countless publications, he made a significant contribution to the scientific research into the history of dogma and made important contributions to the historically sharpened awareness of the problems of Catholic theology." Joseph Ratzinger , who later became Pope Benedict XVI. , with whom Hödl had been very close friends since his Bonn years, writes in his autobiography about Ludwig Hödl: "a great connoisseur of the unprinted sources of medieval theology, whose mastery in the school von Schmaus was always rightly admired".

Hödl's students include a. Theodor Schneider , Gerd Lohaus, Manfred Gerwing and Matthias Laarmann.

Hödl's scientific and pastoral work was honored in 1992 with the appointment as papal honorary prelate .

Fonts

bibliography

• Ludwig Hödl: Monographs. Essays. Lexicon article. Reviews, in: Ludwig Hödl: World knowledge and belief in God in history and present. Commemoration for Ludwig Hödl on his 65th birthday. Selected essays. Collected Research. Edited by Manfred Gerwing. St. Ottilien: EOS 1990, pp. 297-315.

Monographs (selection)

• The basic questions of the doctrine of the sacraments according to Herveus Natalis OP (Munich Theological Studies, Syst. Dept. 10). Munich: Zink 1956 [dissertation].
• The teaching of Petrus Johannis Olivi OFM on the universal power of the Pope. A dogma-historical treatise based on edited and unedited texts (communications from the Grabmann Institute 1). Munich: Hueber 1958.
• The history of scholastic literature and the theology of the keys to power. 1st part: The scholastic literature and the theology of the key power from its beginnings to the Summa Aurea of ​​Wilhelm von Auxerre (Contributions to the history of philosophy and theology of the Middle Ages 38/4). Münster: Aschendorff 1960 [habilitation thesis].
• The claim of philosophy and the objection of theology in the dispute between the faculties (communications from the Grabmann Institute 4). Munich: Hueber 1960
• On the reality and effectiveness of the Triune God according to the appropriative theology of the Trinity of the 12th century (communications from the Grabmann Institute 12). Munich: Hueber 1965.

Editor (selection)

• De iurisdictione: An unpublished treatise by Hervaeus Natalis OP († 1323) on church violence (reports from the Grabmann Institute 2). Hueber, Munich 1959.
• Johannes Quidort from Paris OP De confessionibus audiendis (Quaestio disputata Parisius de potestate papae) (communications from the Grabmann Institute 6). Munich: Hueber 1962.
• Ludwig Hödl / Dieter Wuttke (eds.): Problems with the edition of Middle and New Latin texts. Colloquium of the German Research Foundation Bonn 26. – 28. February 1973. Boppard: Boldt 1978.
• Henricus Gandavensis : Tractatus super facto praelatorum et fratrum (Quodlibet XII, Quaestio 31) (Opera omnia XVII). Leuven: Peters 1989.

literature

• Kürschner's German Scholars Calendar.
• Manfred Gerwing / Godehard Ruppert (eds.): Renovatio et Reformatio. Against the image of the "dark" Middle Ages. Festschrift for Ludwig Hödl on his 60th birthday. Münster: Aschendorff 1985.
• Manfred Gerwing, Heinrich JF Reinhardt (Hrsg.): Truth on the way. Festschrift for Ludwig Hödl on his 85th birthday (contributions to the history of philosophy and theology of the Middle Ages 72). Münster: Aschendorff 2009.
• RegioWiki Niederbayern, Art. " Ludwig Hödl ".

Individual evidence

1. ↑ http://www.bistum-essen.de/presse/artikel/professor-em-dr-ludwig-hoedl-verstorben/
2. ↑ Prof. Dr. Georg Essen , obituary of the Catholic Theol. Faculty of the Ruhr University Bochum on Prof. Dr. Ludwig Hödl. http://www.kath.ruhr-uni-bochum.de/aktuelles/dogmatik/news00222.html.de
3. ↑ Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger: From my life. Memories . Stuttgart: DVA 1998, p. 95.