Leo Scheffczyk
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Leo Cardinal Scheffczyk (February 21, 1920 – December 8, 2005) was a long-time theologian at the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and one of the strongest forces for orthodoxy during the long pontificate of John Paul II. He severely criticized some of his former students, e.g. Leonardo Boff, during the 1980s and 1990s, who took a liberal stance. What limited evidence is available suggests Scheffczyk likely played a major role in drafting the most controversial documents related to this task such as Ordinatio Sacerdotalis and Ad Tuendam Fidem[1].
He was born in the city of Beuthen, which is now called Bytom, Poland. He studied during World War II at the famous theological department of the University of Breslau. Moving to the University of Munich, Scheffczyk was ordained as a priest for the Archdiocese of Munich on June 29, 1947.
Immediately, Scheffczyk took to theological work and within a year of his ordination he was already a theology professor at the seminary in Königstein im Taunus. He later moved to the more prestigious university at Tübingen and during that time his theological knowledge was already immensely appreciated by his students, who include such notables as Walter Kasper. In those days, whilst he was immensely knowledgeable on such subjects as the Virgin Mary, Scheffczyk was not considered a likely possibility for a promotion into the Vatican itself: he indeed remained, unlike such theologians as Yves Congar, remote from the proceedings of Vatican II, even though he undoubtedly understood its thought very well.
His return to the University of Munich in 1965 coincided with long periods of writing on various theological topics. Like Ratzinger, Scheffczyk's theology took a turn towards the more conservative during the late 1960s and 1970s, but Pope Paul VI never considered promoting him and only after Paul died did he become a monsignor.
After this, Scheffczyk, though still focusing on writing theology, did an increasing amount of work in the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, often being consulted by Ratzinger as the Congregation devoted itself to settling theological questions temporarily opened by Vatican II and the social upheavals of the 1960s. However, Scheffczyk never apparently had any desire to become a "celebrity"[2] and even when he is believed by Vatican watchers to have "publicly lamented that John Paul had not formally declared the ban on women's ordination infallible".
At the request of Ratzinger (source?), along with Avery Dulles (another prominent theologian), Leo Scheffczyk was appointed a Cardinal by John Paul II on February 21, 2001. Considering his age, Scheffczyk asked for dispensation not to be ordained a bishop (normally required by canonical law).
He was regarded as an important thinker in late twentieth-century Catholicism.
[edit] Notes
- ^ Allen, John L. (Jr.); Cardinal Ratzinger: The Vatican's Enforcer of the Faith; page 186; published 2000 by Continuum International Publishing Group
- ^ Allen; pages 45-47
Best first hand information can be found on the Cardinal's website: [[1]]
German Wikipedia Article: [[2]]
