Pierre-Marie Théas
Encyclopedia
Pierre-Marie Théas was a French
Roman Catholic bishop
. He was ordained on September 16, 1920 as a priest. He was consecrated as the Bishop of Montauban, France, on July 26, 1940. He was present at the last days of Spanish President Manuel Azaña
, and offered support to his widow.
He wrote a pastoral letter condemning the Nazi deportation of Jews in the summer of 1942 in which he said:
"I give voice to the outraged protest of Christian conscience and I proclaim… that all men, whatever their race or religion, have the right to be respected by individuals and by states." For his attempts to prevent the Jewish deportations and persecutions he would become one of the few individuals who received the honorary title: "Righteous Among The Nations
".
Théas continued to oppose the Nazi policies culminating in a fiery sermon in his cathedral in which he condemned the "Cruel and inhuman treatment of one of our fellow men" in 1944. He was arrested the night after the sermon by the Gestapo. He was sent to a concentration camp where he spent 10 weeks and then was released and returned to his parish.http://www.paxchristi.net/html/founding.html
After the war he was installed as the Bishop of Tarbes and Lourdes on February 17, 1947 and retired on February 12, 1970.http://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/bishop/btheas.html
He was most noted for his belief in Liberation Theology
. He has been credited as saying:
He died on April 3, 1977.
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...
Roman Catholic bishop
Bishop
A bishop is an ordained or consecrated member of the Christian clergy who is generally entrusted with a position of authority and oversight. Within the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox Churches, in the Assyrian Church of the East, in the Independent Catholic Churches, and in the...
. He was ordained on September 16, 1920 as a priest. He was consecrated as the Bishop of Montauban, France, on July 26, 1940. He was present at the last days of Spanish President Manuel Azaña
Manuel Azaña
Manuel Azaña Díaz was a Spanish politician. He was the first Prime Minister of the Second Spanish Republic , and later served again as Prime Minister , and then as the second and last President of the Republic . The Spanish Civil War broke out while he was President...
, and offered support to his widow.
He wrote a pastoral letter condemning the Nazi deportation of Jews in the summer of 1942 in which he said:
"I give voice to the outraged protest of Christian conscience and I proclaim… that all men, whatever their race or religion, have the right to be respected by individuals and by states." For his attempts to prevent the Jewish deportations and persecutions he would become one of the few individuals who received the honorary title: "Righteous Among The Nations
Righteous Among the Nations
Righteous among the Nations of the world's nations"), also translated as Righteous Gentiles is an honorific used by the State of Israel to describe non-Jews who risked their lives during the Holocaust to save Jews from extermination by the Nazis....
".
Théas continued to oppose the Nazi policies culminating in a fiery sermon in his cathedral in which he condemned the "Cruel and inhuman treatment of one of our fellow men" in 1944. He was arrested the night after the sermon by the Gestapo. He was sent to a concentration camp where he spent 10 weeks and then was released and returned to his parish.http://www.paxchristi.net/html/founding.html
After the war he was installed as the Bishop of Tarbes and Lourdes on February 17, 1947 and retired on February 12, 1970.http://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/bishop/btheas.html
He was most noted for his belief in Liberation Theology
Liberation theology
Liberation theology is a Christian movement in political theology which interprets the teachings of Jesus Christ in terms of a liberation from unjust economic, political, or social conditions...
. He has been credited as saying:
- "Urged on by unrestrainable forces, today's world asks for a revolution. The revolution must succeed, but it can succeed only if the Church enters the fray, bringing the Gospel. After being liberated from Nazi dictatorship, we want to liberate the working class from capitalist slavery."
He died on April 3, 1977.
Works
He wrote two books:- Ce Que Croyait Bernadette (The Faith of Bernadette)
- Ce Que Croyait Le Vierge Marie (The Faith of the Virgin Mary).