Dietrich von Hildebrand
Encyclopedia
Dietrich von Hildebrand was a German
Catholic
philosopher and theologian
who was called (informally) by Pope Pius XII
"the 20th Century Doctor of the Church."
Pope John Paul II
greatly admired the work of von Hildebrand, remarking once to von Hildebrand's widow, Alice von Hildebrand, "Your husband is one of the great ethicists of the twentieth century." Pope Benedict XVI
has a particular admiration and regard for Dietrich von Hildebrand, whom he already knew as a young priest in Munich. In fact, as young Fr. Ratzinger, he even served as an assistant pastor in the church of St. Georg in Munich, which von Hildebrand frequented in the 1950s and 1960s. It was also in St. Georg that Dietrich and Alice von Hildebrand were married. The degree of Pope Benedict's esteem is expressed in one of his statements about von Hildebrand, "When the intellectual history of the Catholic Church in the twentieth century is written, the name of Dietrich von Hildebrand will be most prominent among the figures of our time." Von Hildebrand was a vocal critic of the changes in the church brought by the Second Vatican Council
. He especially resented the new liturgy. Of it he said "Truly, if one of the devils in C.S. Lewis' The Screwtape Letters
had been entrusted with the ruin of the liturgy, he could not have done it better."
in a Protestant household, the son of sculptor Adolf von Hildebrand
, Hildebrand converted to Catholicism in 1914. He was a vocal opponent of Adolf Hitler
and Nazism
, fleeing from Germany to Vienna
, Austria
in 1933 upon Hitler's rise to power. There with the support of Austrian Chancellor Engelbert Dollfuss
he founded and edited an anti-Nazi weekly paper, Der Christliche Ständestaat (The Christian Corporative State). For this, he was sentenced to death in absentia
by the Nazis.
When Hitler annexed Austria in 1938, Hildebrand was once again forced to flee. He spent eleven months in Switzerland
, near Fribourg
. He then moved to Fiac
in France
, near Toulouse
, where he taught at the Catholic University of Toulouse
. When the Nazis invaded France in 1940, he went into hiding, until after many hardships, and the heroic assistance of Frenchmen, including Edmond Michelet
, he was able to escape with his wife, son (Franz von Hildebrand), and daughter-in-law to Portugal
. From there, they traveled by ship to Brazil
and then to New York
in 1940. There he taught philosophy
at the Jesuit Fordham University
on Rose Hill, The Bronx
, New York
.
Hildebrand retired from teaching in 1960 and spent the remaining years of his life writing. He is the author of dozens of books, both in German and English. He was a founder of Una Voce America. He died on January 26, 1977 after a long struggle with a heart condition. He was married to Margaret Denck (died 1957), and then, in 1959, to Alice von Hildebrand
(born 1923), also a philosopher and theologian.
He died in New Rochelle, New York
, in 1977.
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
Catholic
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
philosopher and theologian
Theology
Theology is the systematic and rational study of religion and its influences and of the nature of religious truths, or the learned profession acquired by completing specialized training in religious studies, usually at a university or school of divinity or seminary.-Definition:Augustine of Hippo...
who was called (informally) by Pope Pius XII
Pope Pius XII
The Venerable Pope Pius XII , born Eugenio Maria Giuseppe Giovanni Pacelli , reigned as Pope, head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of Vatican City State, from 2 March 1939 until his death in 1958....
"the 20th Century Doctor of the Church."
Pope John Paul II
Pope John Paul II
Blessed Pope John Paul II , born Karol Józef Wojtyła , reigned as Pope of the Catholic Church and Sovereign of Vatican City from 16 October 1978 until his death on 2 April 2005, at of age. His was the second-longest documented pontificate, which lasted ; only Pope Pius IX ...
greatly admired the work of von Hildebrand, remarking once to von Hildebrand's widow, Alice von Hildebrand, "Your husband is one of the great ethicists of the twentieth century." Pope Benedict XVI
Pope Benedict XVI
Benedict XVI is the 265th and current Pope, by virtue of his office of Bishop of Rome, the Sovereign of the Vatican City State and the leader of the Catholic Church as well as the other 22 sui iuris Eastern Catholic Churches in full communion with the Holy See...
has a particular admiration and regard for Dietrich von Hildebrand, whom he already knew as a young priest in Munich. In fact, as young Fr. Ratzinger, he even served as an assistant pastor in the church of St. Georg in Munich, which von Hildebrand frequented in the 1950s and 1960s. It was also in St. Georg that Dietrich and Alice von Hildebrand were married. The degree of Pope Benedict's esteem is expressed in one of his statements about von Hildebrand, "When the intellectual history of the Catholic Church in the twentieth century is written, the name of Dietrich von Hildebrand will be most prominent among the figures of our time." Von Hildebrand was a vocal critic of the changes in the church brought by the Second Vatican Council
Second Vatican Council
The Second Vatican Council addressed relations between the Roman Catholic Church and the modern world. It was the twenty-first Ecumenical Council of the Catholic Church and the second to be held at St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican. It opened under Pope John XXIII on 11 October 1962 and closed...
. He especially resented the new liturgy. Of it he said "Truly, if one of the devils in C.S. Lewis' The Screwtape Letters
The Screwtape Letters
The Screwtape Letters is a satirical Christian apologetics novel written in epistolary style by C. S. Lewis, first published in book form in February 1942...
had been entrusted with the ruin of the liturgy, he could not have done it better."
Biography
Born and raised in FlorenceFlorence
Florence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the province of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with approximately 370,000 inhabitants, expanding to over 1.5 million in the metropolitan area....
in a Protestant household, the son of sculptor Adolf von Hildebrand
Adolf von Hildebrand
Adolf von Hildebrand was a German sculptor,Hildebrand was born at Marburg, the son of Marburg economics professor Bruno Hildebrand. He studied at the Academy of Fine Arts Nuremberg, with Kaspar von Zumbusch at the Munich Academy and with Rudolf Siemering in Berlin...
, Hildebrand converted to Catholicism in 1914. He was a vocal opponent of Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
and Nazism
Nazism
Nazism, the common short form name of National Socialism was the ideology and practice of the Nazi Party and of Nazi Germany...
, fleeing from Germany to Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
, Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
in 1933 upon Hitler's rise to power. There with the support of Austrian Chancellor Engelbert Dollfuss
Engelbert Dollfuss
Engelbert Dollfuss was an Austrian Christian Social and Patriotic Front statesman. Serving previously as Minister for Forest and Agriculture, he ascended to Federal Chancellor in 1932 in the midst of a crisis for the conservative government...
he founded and edited an anti-Nazi weekly paper, Der Christliche Ständestaat (The Christian Corporative State). For this, he was sentenced to death in absentia
In absentia
In absentia is Latin for "in the absence". In legal use, it usually means a trial at which the defendant is not physically present. The phrase is not ordinarily a mere observation, but suggests recognition of violation to a defendant's right to be present in court proceedings in a criminal trial.In...
by the Nazis.
When Hitler annexed Austria in 1938, Hildebrand was once again forced to flee. He spent eleven months in Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
, near Fribourg
Fribourg
Fribourg is the capital of the Swiss canton of Fribourg and the district of Sarine. It is located on both sides of the river Saane/Sarine, on the Swiss plateau, and is an important economic, administrative and educational center on the cultural border between German and French Switzerland...
. He then moved to Fiac
Fiac
Fiac is a commune in the Tarn department in southern France....
in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, near Toulouse
Toulouse
Toulouse is a city in the Haute-Garonne department in southwestern FranceIt lies on the banks of the River Garonne, 590 km away from Paris and half-way between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea...
, where he taught at the Catholic University of Toulouse
Catholic University of Toulouse
The Catholic University of Toulouse is a Catholic university in Toulouse, France.-External links:...
. When the Nazis invaded France in 1940, he went into hiding, until after many hardships, and the heroic assistance of Frenchmen, including Edmond Michelet
Edmond Michelet
Edmond Michelet was a French politician.On 17 June 1940, he distributed tracts calling to continue the war in all Brive-la-Gaillarde's mailboxes...
, he was able to escape with his wife, son (Franz von Hildebrand), and daughter-in-law to Portugal
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
. From there, they traveled by ship to Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
and then to New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
in 1940. There he taught philosophy
Philosophy
Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...
at the Jesuit Fordham University
Fordham University
Fordham University is a private, nonprofit, coeducational research university in the United States, with three campuses in and around New York City. It was founded by the Roman Catholic Diocese of New York in 1841 as St...
on Rose Hill, The Bronx
The Bronx
The Bronx is the northernmost of the five boroughs of New York City. It is also known as Bronx County, the last of the 62 counties of New York State to be incorporated...
, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
.
Hildebrand retired from teaching in 1960 and spent the remaining years of his life writing. He is the author of dozens of books, both in German and English. He was a founder of Una Voce America. He died on January 26, 1977 after a long struggle with a heart condition. He was married to Margaret Denck (died 1957), and then, in 1959, to Alice von Hildebrand
Alice von Hildebrand
Alice von Hildebrand is a Catholic philosopher and theologian and a former professor.She came to the U.S. in 1940 and began teaching at Hunter College in New York City in 1947...
(born 1923), also a philosopher and theologian.
He died in New Rochelle, New York
New Rochelle, New York
New Rochelle is a city in Westchester County, New York, United States, in the southeastern portion of the state.The town was settled by refugee Huguenots in 1688 who were fleeing persecution in France...
, in 1977.
Partial bibliography
- Marriage: The Mystery of Faithful Love (1929)
- Metaphysics of Community (1930)
- In Defense of Purity; an Analysis of the Catholic Ideals of Purity and Virginity (Longmans, Green and Co., 1931)
- Transformation in Christ (Longmans, 1948)
- Liturgy and Personality (Longmans, 1943)
- Actual Questions in the Light of Eternity (1931)
- The Essence of Philosophical Research and Knowledge (1934)
- Fundamental Moral Attitudes (Longmans, 1950)
- Christian Ethics (McKay, 1952)
- The New Tower of Babel (P. J. Kenedy, 1953)
- Ethics (Franciscan Herald Press, 1953)
- True Morality and Its Counterfeits, with Alice M. Jourdain (McKay, 1955)
- Graven Images: Substitutes for True Morality, with Alice M. Jourdain (McKay, 1957)
- Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert (J. Habbel, 1961)
- Not as the World Gives; St. Francis' Message to Laymen Today" (Franciscan Herald Press, 1963)
- The art of living, with Alice von Hildebrand (Franciscan Herald Press, 1965)
- Man and Woman: Love & the Meaning of Intimacy, (Franciscan Herald Press, 1966)
- Morality and Situation Ethics, (Franciscan Herald Press, 1966)
- The encyclical Humanae vitae, a sign of contradiction; an essay on birth control and Catholic conscience, (Franciscan Herald Press, 1969)
- Love, Marriage, and the Catholic Conscience: Understanding the Church's Teachings on Birth Control
- The Trojan Horse in the City of God: The Catholic Crisis Explained (Franciscan Herald Press, 1967)
- Celibacy and the crisis of faith, (Franciscan Herald Press, 1971)
- What is Philosophy? (Franciscan Herald Press, 1973)
- The Devastated Vineyard (1973)
- Jaws of Death: Gate of Heaven (1976)
- The Heart: an Analysis of Human and Divine Affectivity, (Franciscan Herald Press, 1977)
- Making Christ's Peace a Part of Your Life
- Humility: Wellspring of Virtue
- The Nature of Love (St. Augustine´s Press. 2010)