Paul Couturier

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Paul Couturier (born July 29, 1881 in Lyon , † March 24, 1953 in Lyon) was a French priest and Benedictine wafer . He is considered a charismatic initiator of the " spiritual ecumenism ". The Council document Unitatis redintegratio received impulses from him. He is still referred to in interdenominational dialogue today .

Life

Couturier came from a family of industrialists . He spent his childhood in the Guillotière district of Lyon . After high school years at the Vincentians he decided to become a priest, and received on 9 June 1906, the consecration . He then graduated from the Catholic University of Lyon , the licentiate for physics and received a teaching position at Catholic school "Les Chartreux" in Lyon's La Croix-Rousse , which he held until the 1946th

In 1923 the spiritual and material need of the Russian revolutionary refugees in Lyon was brought to him and he made them his task. The world of faith of Orthodoxy came into his field of vision. The question of ecclesiastical unity posed to him intensified during a stop at the Benedictines in Amay , Belgium , where Lambert Beauduin impressed him. In January 1933 he organized the first ecumenical prayer meeting in Lyon, which later became the week of prayer for Christian unity . In 1934 he met the Russian Orthodox Metropolitan for the exiles Eulogius Georgiewski († 1946).

In 1936, Couturier suggested a prayer and discussion meeting for Catholic and Protestant clergy in Erlenbach , Switzerland; this became the Groupe des Dombes , which still exists today . In 1937/38 he met leading representatives of the Anglican Church in England . In magazine articles he advocated the "universal prayer of Christians for Christian unity". In 1939 he met Willem Visser 't Hooft , who in 1948 became the first general secretary of the World Council of Churches . In 1940 he met Roger Schutz in Lyon , who presented him with his plan for a Protestant monastic community in Taizé .

In 1942 the first edition of Pages documentaires appeared , which later became the journal Unité chrétienne . In it he developed the idea of ​​an "invisible monastery" in which Christians of all denominations are united in prayer for unity.

From April 12, 1942 to June 12, 1944, Couturier was held in custody by the Gestapo in Fort Montluc , probably because of his ties to England .

After the war, Couturier continued to campaign for deepening ecumenical dialogue through meetings and publications.

On April 11, 1952, Maximos IV Sayegh , Melkite Patriarch of Antioch , awarded him the title of Archimandrite .

Paul Couturier was buried on the Cimetière de Loyasse in Lyon.

In 2003, the Saint-Georges pedestrian bridge over the Saône in Lyon was renamed Passerelle Paul Couturier .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ since 1932 Oblate of Amay Abbey , now Chevetogne Abbey , see paulcouturier.faithweb.com: Paul Couturier and Spiritual Ecumenism
  2. ↑ so often with Cardinal Kasper ( example ) and a.
  3. ↑ a b Rues de Lyon

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Couturier, Paul
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Couturier, Irénée
BRIEF DESCRIPTION French priest, ecumenical personality
DATE OF BIRTH July 29, 1881
PLACE OF BIRTH Lyon
DATE OF DEATH March 24, 1953
Place of death Lyon