Paulo Suess

Paulo Suess (* April 2. 1938 in Cologne as PaulGünther Sweet ) is a Roman Catholic theologian from Germany, since 1966 in Brazil lives and works. He is a well-known representative of the theology of liberation and has significantly shaped the theology of inculturation in his scientific work . In addition to his work as a theologian, Paulo Suess is also known as a poet in German-speaking countries.

Education and career as a theologian

After graduating from secondary school, Paulo Suess made up his Abitur at night school. He then studied theology in Munich, Münster, Brussels and Leuven . On July 19, 1964, after completing his studies in Munich, he was ordained a priest in the diocese of Augsburg . From 1966 to 1974 he first worked in Brazil (first in Juruti , then in Manaus ) and then returned to Europe to continue his studies at the International Pastoral Institute in Brussels and Leuven. In 1976 he obtained his doctorate in Münster with a dissertation on popular Catholicism in Brazil written by Johann Baptist Metz .

For many years, Paulo Suess was general secretary of the Brazilian Indigenous Mission Council (CIMI), of which he is now the theological advisor. His commitment to the rights of the indigenous peoples of Latin America is also evident in the founding and publication of a magazine to defend the rights of the indigenous peoples and the landless movement in Brazil.

Paulo Suess' main focus is on liberation theology . He gained a first impression of the reality of life in the Brazilian rural population between 1966 and 1974 when he worked in a parish in the state of Pará . His work in the Indigenous Mission Council brought him even closer to the culture of the indigenous population. Paulo Suess has significantly shaped the theology of inculturation and the option for the others , a modification of the option for the poor . His contributions and active work in the field of liberation theology have made him one of the world's recognized and well-known representatives of this field.

In 1987, Paulo Suess co-founded the postgraduate course in missiology at the Pontifical Theological Faculty Nossa Senhora da Assunçao in São Paulo and subsequently became its director. He coordinated the course until 2001.

When the Pontifical Theological Faculty was incorporated into the UniFAI university center in São Paulo in 2000, the agreement of Paulo Suess was not extended with the approval of Archbishop Cláudio Cardinal Hummes . This incident is seen as a strategic church political decision.

On an international level, Paulo Suess was president of the ecumenical theological association International Association for Mission Studies (IAMS) until 2008 .

Awards

In 1977 Paulo Suess was awarded the prize for the academic year 1977 from the Department of Catholic Theology at the Westphalian Wilhelms University of Münster for his dissertation on People's Catholicism in Brazil. The typology and strategy of practiced religiosity are excellent.

In 1982 the Brazilian Writers' Association awarded him the Prize for Cultural Merit.

In 1990, he took on behalf of the Indigenenmissionsrat CIMI and the indigenous peoples of Brazil the Shalom Prize of the Working Group for Justice and Peace of the Catholic University of counter

In 1994 he was awarded an honorary doctorate by the Otto Friedrich University in Bamberg .

On July 9, 2004, Paulo Suess received an honorary doctorate from the Johann Wolfgang Goethe University in Frankfurt in the field of Catholic theology.

Selection of works

• People's Catholicism in Brazil. Typology and strategy of lived religiosity . Dissertation 1976, Münster. Kaiser, Munich 1978, ISBN 3459011394 .
• From the scream to the song. Brazilian meditations . Peter Hammer Verlag, Wuppertal 1985, ISBN 3779573938
• Articulated around the world - rooted in context. Theology and Church of Latin America before the challenges of the “third subject”. Certificates - Analyzes - Perspectives . IKO - Verlag für Intercultural Communication, Frankfurt am Main / London 2001, ISBN 3889396232 .
• And yet she is moving! Waymarks of pastoral practice in theology and church in Latin America , Grünewald-Verlag, Ostfildern 2014, ISBN 978-3-7867-2814-6

literature

• Thomas Schreijäck (ed.): Theology as poison and gift. In honor of Günter Paulo Suess , Edition Exodus, Lucerne 2005.

Contributions u. a .: Kuno Füssel : Memory and Resistance. From the persistent effort to live as Europeans for Latin America. Laudation on the occasion of the awarding of an honorary doctorate to Prof. Dr. Günter Paulo Suess.

• Nikolaus Klein: Paulo Suess. Contextual theology advocate . In: Orientation 66/2002, ISSN  0030-5502 , pp. 46-47.
• Ottmar Fuchs : Honor is due to those who give honor ... Laudatory speech for Paulo Suess . In: Orientation 57/1993/20, ISSN  0030-5502 , pp. 221-226.

Web links

• Literature by and about Paulo Suess in the catalog of the German National Library
• Gerhard Dilger, Gert Eisenbürger: The other Brazil. Interview with Paulo Suess on the 500th anniversary of the Portuguese landing in Brazil . In: ILA 234, April 2000. Retrieved January 23, 2011.
• Poem In January by Paulo Suess . The poem was used by the composer Friedemann Schmidt-Mechau in 1987 for a piece of the same name for four-part choir. Retrieved January 23, 2011.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ http://www.augsburger-allgemeine.de/dillingen/Pater-Suess-die-Indios-und-der-Papst-id30773932.html
2. ↑ http://www.augsburger-allgemeine.de/dillingen/Pater-Suess-die-Indios-und-der-Papst-id30773932.html
3. ↑ ^{a b c} Stefan Silber: The salvation of the church? Inculturation at Paulo Süss  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. .  1995.
4. ↑ Press release of the JWG University FFM on the award of the honorary doctorate in 2004 ( Memento of the original from September 27, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . 
5. ↑ Urgent Action of the Franciscan Mission Center to the events from 2000 to 2002 ( Memento of 14 September 2005 at the Internet Archive ).
6. ↑ Source: Hubert Hirt, from 1983 to 1991 an active member of the working group for justice and peace of the KUE and also active in the campaign in favor of the CIMI in 1989 and 1990. The campaign was opened by the Catholic Bishop Erwin Kräutler with a lecture on the human rights situation in the Amazon region and a church service.
7. ↑ University of Frankfurt a. M. to award an honorary doctorate to Paulo Suess .