George Tyrrell - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

George Tyrrell was a Jesuit priest (until his expulsion) and a Modernist theologian and scholar. His attempts to evolve and adapt Catholic teaching in the context of modern ideas made him a key figure in the Modernist controversy

Modernism (Roman Catholicism)

Modernism refers to theological opinions expressed during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, but with influence reaching into the 21st century, which are characterized by a break with the past. Catholic modernists form an amorphous group. The term "modernist" appears in Pope Pius X's 1907...

within the Roman Catholic Church

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...

in the late 19th century.

Tyrrell was born in Dublin, Ireland and brought up as an Anglican. He converted to Roman Catholicism in 1879. Joining the Jesuits in 1880, Tyrrell was ordained to the priesthood in 1891. He argued, contrary to Church teaching, that the Pope must not be an absolute autocrat in the Church, but rather, a "spokesman for the mind of the Holy Spirit in the Church", the "Base Community" as he termed it, of the laity

Laity

In religious organizations, the laity comprises all people who are not in the clergy. A person who is a member of a religious order who is not ordained legitimate clergy is considered as a member of the laity, even though they are members of a religious order .In the past in Christian cultures, the...

.

Tyrrell argued that most biblical scholarship and devotional reflection, like the quest for the "historic" Jesus

Historicity of Jesus

The historicity of Jesus concerns how much of what is written about Jesus of Nazareth is historically reliable, and whether the evidence supports the existence of such an historical figure...

involves elements of self-conscious self-reflection. His famous image, criticizing Adolf von Harnack

Adolf von Harnack

Adolf von Harnack , was a German theologian and prominent church historian.He produced many religious publications from 1873-1912....

's human view of Scripture is of peering into a well, in which we see our own face reflected in the dark water deep below:

"The Christ that Harnack sees, looking back through nineteen centuries of Catholic darkness, is only the reflection of a Liberal Protestant face, seen at the bottom of a deep well."

Tyrrell was disciplined under Pope Pius X

Pope Pius X

Pope Saint Pius X , born Giuseppe Melchiorre Sarto, was the 257th Pope of the Catholic Church, serving from 1903 to 1914. He was the first pope since Pope Pius V to be canonized. Pius X rejected modernist interpretations of Catholic doctrine, promoting traditional devotional practices and orthodox...

for claiming "the right of each age to adjust the historico-philosophical expression of Christianity to contemporary certainties, and thus to put an end to this utterly needless conflict between faith and science which is a mere theological bogey."

Tyrell was expelled from the Jesuit order

Society of Jesus

The Society of Jesus is a Catholic male religious order that follows the teachings of the Catholic Church. The members are called Jesuits, and are also known colloquially as "God's Army" and as "The Company," these being references to founder Ignatius of Loyola's military background and a...

in 1906 and suspended from the sacraments the following year. He was given extreme unction on his deathbed in 1909, but was denied burial in a Catholic cemetery. A priest, his friend Henri Bremond

Henri Brémond

Henri Bremond was a French literary scholar, sometime Jesuit, and Catholic philosopher, one of the theological modernists.-Biography:...

, who was present at the burial made a sign of the cross over Tyrrell's grave. For this act Bremond was suspended a divinis
Interdict (Roman Catholic Church)
In Roman Catholic canon law, an interdict is an ecclesiastical censure that excludes from certain rites of the Church individuals or groups, who nonetheless do not cease to be members of the Church.-Distinctions in canon law:...

by Bishop Peter Amigo

Peter Amigo

Peter Emmanuel Amigo was a Roman Catholic bishop in the Catholic Church in England and Wales.He studied at St Edmund's College, Ware, and St. Thomas's, Hammersmith. He was ordained priest on 25 February 1888...

of Southwark

Southwark

Southwark is a district of south London, England, and the administrative headquarters of the London Borough of Southwark. Situated east of Charing Cross, it forms one of the oldest parts of London and fronts the River Thames to the north...

for some time.

Writings

External links

Brief biographical notes on George Tyrrell
Michael Morton, "Catholic Modernism (1860–1914)"
International Catholic University: James Hitchcock, "Introduction to Modernism": George Tyrrell, among essays headed "Note: Most of the works dealing with Modernism are sympathetic to the Modernists, and students should maintain a critical stance towards the assigned readings."
Liberal Catholicism

Writings

External links

Further reading