Sebastian Tromp
Encyclopedia
Sebastiaan Peter Cornelis Tromp, S.J. (16 March 1889 – 8 February 1975) was a Dutch
Jesuit priest, theologian, and Latinist, who is best known for assisting Pope Pius XII
in his theological encyclical
s, and Pope John XXIII
in the preparation for Vatican II. He was an assistant to Cardinal Alfredo Ottaviani during the Council and professor of Catholic theology at the Pontifical Gregorian University
from 1929 until 1967.
.
at Canisius College in Nijmegen. He studied in the novitiate at Mariëndaal, and continued on for a triennium in philosophy at Oudenbosch
. An exceptional Latinist, Tromp achieved a doctorate in Classical Languages
from the University of Amsterdam in 1921. He received Holy Orders
on 8 October 1922 and thus became a Jesuit priest; he completed his theological studies in 1926 at the Pontifical Gregorian University
.
Until 1929, Tromp taught as a professor of Latin, Greek, and fundamental theology at the Theologicum of the Jesuit Order in Maastricht
, when he was relocated to the Gregorian University as an instructor in the same subject. Tromp quickly attracted attention, and in 1936 he was appointed consultator of the Holy Office
. Tromp had already elaborated on the dangers of Nazism
by 1937, and translated and referenced the encyclical 1937 Mit brennender Sorge
against the errors and dangers of the National Socialist state. He was appointed apostolic visitator, and performed apostolic visitations of professors at Dutch major seminaries
and the Catholic University of Nijmegen in 1939, after the end of the Second World War, and in 1955. The purpose of these visits was to expose the teaching of Neo-Modernist
theological propositions—especially those directly condemned in the 1907 encyclical Pascendi Dominici gregis
. He came under some criticism for the zeal with which he carried out these examinations.
In 1951, Tromp was made a member of the Royal Academy of Sciences of Belgium
. While progressive theologians despised his doctrinal orthodoxy, he was not a humorless academic, and became a much-loved preacher during annual meetings of the minor seminary at Rolduc
. He also had a true pastoral personality, helping several couples obtaining an annulment
of their previous marriages in the Vatican, but only after a rigid investigation; even valid annulments were often rejected as impious and sinful in the strict Catholic atmosphere of the Dutch parishes before 1960.
, Tromp served as secretary of the Preparatory Theological Commission at the specific request of Pope John XXIII, and, later, as the secretary of the Doctrinal Commission under Cardinal Alfredo Ottaviani. His preparations—or schemata—were shelved, after some Western European Council fathers appealed to Pope John XXIII for total free debate on all issues. Karl Rahner
considered Tromp to be a formidable theological opponent during the council debates, and gently asserted that "[Tromp] thought his schemata would simply need the blessing of the Council fathers and that would be the council. But all his schemata disappeared—not a single one was discussed".
was joined by Joseph Ratzinger
(the future Pope Benedict XVI), Aloys Grillmeier
, Otto Semmelroth and Hans Küng
, all of whom worked for the German Cardinals Josef Frings of Cologne and Julius Döpfner
of Munich and Freising. Some of them opposed the schemata drawn up by Ottaviani and Tromp's preparatory commission, and when the group achieved the shelving of these schemata, it meant that the Council Fathers no longer had any written basis of preparation, and, consequently, that the conciliar bishops had no structure, strategy, or agenda to rely on.
Ratzinger was opposed to this radical move by the Rahner group, believing that it effectively derailed the Council. In his memoirs, he presents a balanced view of Tromp's schemata:
the encyclical Mystici corporis Christi
in 1943. Encyclicals from that time period with similar phraseology, (e.g., Mediator Dei
and Humani generis
) may have been influenced by him as well, but the extent of this influence is not known. He also felt a deep intellectual connection to Saint Robert Bellarmine
—the selection of writings presented below is enough to evince his devotion.
regarding the position of Mary in the Mystical Body of Christ.
Roschini demonstrated that numerous writers, starting with Radulfus Ardens
(d. 1200), used the metaphor of a "neck" to indicate Mary's role, and that even the Protestant reformer Johannes Oecolampadius
used that image to describe Mary as mediator of all graces. (The neck had been used through the centuries as an allegory for vital communication within the body.) Roschini quoted Bernardino of Siena
(d. 1444) to that effect: "Mary is the neck of our head, through which all gifts are given to his mystical body." Pope Pius X
also considered the neck to be the best image, observing as much in his 1904 encyclical Ad diem illum
.
Tromp, however, considered the heart, the superior of all parts of the body, a better image. In his defense, he quoted Thomas Aquinas
and Pope Leo XIII
. According to Tromp, the heart, being in so many ways incomparable to the other parts of the body, parallels the fact that no member of the Church can be compared to Mary. The heart, continued Tromp, is consubstantial with the head and the body, just as Mary's human nature participated with that of Christ and the members of his body. Tromp concluded that because of her motherly love of Christ and of all the members of his body, she deserves to be identified with the heart.
But Roschini was categorically opposed. The heart has influence over the head, and in view of Christ's nature, this is impossible: "After giving him human nature, the Blessed Virgin has no influence whatsoever on Christ as head of the Church". In Mystici corporis, Pius XII avoided this issue, calling Mary simply the "mother" of the mystical body. She was already mother of the head, he wrote, but under the cross she was named mother of all its parts.
Selected works
}
Selected articles from Gregorianum
Works edited
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
Jesuit priest, theologian, and Latinist, who is best known for assisting 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....
in his theological encyclical
Encyclical
An encyclical was originally a circular letter sent to all the churches of a particular area in the ancient Catholic Church. At that time, the word could be used for a letter sent out by any bishop...
s, and Pope John XXIII
Pope John XXIII
-Papal election:Following the death of Pope Pius XII in 1958, Roncalli was elected Pope, to his great surprise. He had even arrived in the Vatican with a return train ticket to Venice. Many had considered Giovanni Battista Montini, Archbishop of Milan, a possible candidate, but, although archbishop...
in the preparation for Vatican II. He was an assistant to Cardinal Alfredo Ottaviani during the Council and professor of Catholic theology at the Pontifical Gregorian University
Pontifical Gregorian University
The Pontifical Gregorian University is a pontifical university located in Rome, Italy.Heir of the Roman College founded by Saint Ignatius of Loyola over 460 years ago, the Gregorian University was the first university founded by the Jesuits...
from 1929 until 1967.
Early life
Sebastian Tromp was born in March 1889, the first son of Cornelis Gerardus Tromp (German: Kornelius Gerhard Tromp), a teacher in the Netherlands, and Maria Catherina Lörper. His mother was from an expatriate German family, expelled during the KulturkampfKulturkampf
The German term refers to German policies in relation to secularity and the influence of the Roman Catholic Church, enacted from 1871 to 1878 by the Prime Minister of Prussia, Otto von Bismarck. The Kulturkampf did not extend to the other German states such as Bavaria...
.
Ecclesiastical career
After his graduation from high school in 1907, Tromp entered the Society of JesusSociety 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...
at Canisius College in Nijmegen. He studied in the novitiate at Mariëndaal, and continued on for a triennium in philosophy at Oudenbosch
Oudenbosch
Oudenbosch is a village in the municipality Halderberge in the west of the Dutch province Noord-Brabant. Oudenbosch is well-known for its 'Basiliek' a catholic church that is a smaller copy of St...
. An exceptional Latinist, Tromp achieved a doctorate in Classical Languages
Classical language
A classical language is a language with a literature that is classical. According to UC Berkeley linguist George L. Hart, it should be ancient, it should be an independent tradition that arose mostly on its own, not as an offshoot of another tradition, and it must have a large and extremely rich...
from the University of Amsterdam in 1921. He received Holy Orders
Priesthood (Catholic Church)
The ministerial orders of the Catholic Church include the orders of bishops, deacons and presbyters, which in Latin is sacerdos. The ordained priesthood and common priesthood are different in function and essence....
on 8 October 1922 and thus became a Jesuit priest; he completed his theological studies in 1926 at the Pontifical Gregorian University
Pontifical Gregorian University
The Pontifical Gregorian University is a pontifical university located in Rome, Italy.Heir of the Roman College founded by Saint Ignatius of Loyola over 460 years ago, the Gregorian University was the first university founded by the Jesuits...
.
Until 1929, Tromp taught as a professor of Latin, Greek, and fundamental theology at the Theologicum of the Jesuit Order in Maastricht
Maastricht
Maastricht is situated on both sides of the Meuse river in the south-eastern part of the Netherlands, on the Belgian border and near the German border...
, when he was relocated to the Gregorian University as an instructor in the same subject. Tromp quickly attracted attention, and in 1936 he was appointed consultator of the Holy Office
Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith
The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith , previously known as the Supreme Sacred Congregation of the Roman and Universal Inquisition , and after 1904 called the Supreme...
. Tromp had already elaborated on the dangers of Nazism
Nazism
Nazism, the common short form name of National Socialism was the ideology and practice of the Nazi Party and of Nazi Germany...
by 1937, and translated and referenced the encyclical 1937 Mit brennender Sorge
Mit Brennender Sorge
Mit brennender Sorge is a Catholic Church encyclical of Pope Pius XI, published on 10 March 1937 . Written in German, not the usual Latin, it was read from the pulpits of all German Catholic churches on one of the Church's busiest Sundays,...
against the errors and dangers of the National Socialist state. He was appointed apostolic visitator, and performed apostolic visitations of professors at Dutch major seminaries
Seminary
A seminary, theological college, or divinity school is an institution of secondary or post-secondary education for educating students in theology, generally to prepare them for ordination as clergy or for other ministry...
and the Catholic University of Nijmegen in 1939, after the end of the Second World War, and in 1955. The purpose of these visits was to expose the teaching of Neo-Modernist
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...
theological propositions—especially those directly condemned in the 1907 encyclical Pascendi Dominici gregis
Pascendi Dominici Gregis
Pascendi dominici gregis was a Papal encyclical letter promulgated by Pope Pius X on 8 September 1907.The pope condemned Modernism, and a whole range of other principles described as "evolutionary", which allowed change to Roman Catholic dogma...
. He came under some criticism for the zeal with which he carried out these examinations.
In 1951, Tromp was made a member of the Royal Academy of Sciences of Belgium
The Royal Academies for Science and the Arts of Belgium
There are two Royal Academies for Science and the Arts in Belgium, corresponding to the two main languages of the country, Dutch and French . The Academies are located in the Palace of Academies in Brussels....
. While progressive theologians despised his doctrinal orthodoxy, he was not a humorless academic, and became a much-loved preacher during annual meetings of the minor seminary at Rolduc
Rolduc
Rolduc is the name of a medieval abbey in Kerkrade, the Netherlands, which is now a Roman Catholic seminary and an affiliated conferencing center.-History:...
. He also had a true pastoral personality, helping several couples obtaining an annulment
Annulment (Catholic Church)
In the Roman Catholic Church an annulment is the procedure, governed by the Church's Canon Law and the Catechism, whereby an ecclesial tribunal determines the sacrament of marriage was invalidly entered into. An annulment determines the Catholic marriage to be void at its inception...
of their previous marriages in the Vatican, but only after a rigid investigation; even valid annulments were often rejected as impious and sinful in the strict Catholic atmosphere of the Dutch parishes before 1960.
Second Vatican Council
At the Second Vatican CouncilSecond 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...
, Tromp served as secretary of the Preparatory Theological Commission at the specific request of Pope John XXIII, and, later, as the secretary of the Doctrinal Commission under Cardinal Alfredo Ottaviani. His preparations—or schemata—were shelved, after some Western European Council fathers appealed to Pope John XXIII for total free debate on all issues. Karl Rahner
Karl Rahner
Karl Rahner, SJ was a German Jesuit and theologian who, alongside Bernard Lonergan and Hans Urs von Balthasar, is considered one of the most influential Roman Catholic theologians of the 20th century...
considered Tromp to be a formidable theological opponent during the council debates, and gently asserted that "[Tromp] thought his schemata would simply need the blessing of the Council fathers and that would be the council. But all his schemata disappeared—not a single one was discussed".
Ratzinger and Tromp
Others opposed Tromp as well. At the Council, Karl RahnerKarl Rahner
Karl Rahner, SJ was a German Jesuit and theologian who, alongside Bernard Lonergan and Hans Urs von Balthasar, is considered one of the most influential Roman Catholic theologians of the 20th century...
was joined by Joseph Ratzinger
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...
(the future Pope Benedict XVI), Aloys Grillmeier
Aloys Grillmeier
Aloys Grillmeier was a theologian and cardinal-deacon of the Catholic Church. Born in Pechbrunn, Germany, he was ordained to the priesthood on June 24, 1937, for the Society of Jesus...
, Otto Semmelroth and Hans Küng
Hans Küng
Hans Küng is a Swiss Catholic priest, theologian, and prolific author. Since 1995 he has been President of the Foundation for a Global Ethic . Küng is "a Catholic priest in good standing", but the Vatican has rescinded his authority to teach Catholic theology...
, all of whom worked for the German Cardinals Josef Frings of Cologne and Julius Döpfner
Julius Döpfner
Julius August Döpfner was a German Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church who served as Archbishop of Munich and Freising from 1961 until his death, and was elevated to the cardinalate in 1958.-Early life and ordination:...
of Munich and Freising. Some of them opposed the schemata drawn up by Ottaviani and Tromp's preparatory commission, and when the group achieved the shelving of these schemata, it meant that the Council Fathers no longer had any written basis of preparation, and, consequently, that the conciliar bishops had no structure, strategy, or agenda to rely on.
Ratzinger was opposed to this radical move by the Rahner group, believing that it effectively derailed the Council. In his memoirs, he presents a balanced view of Tromp's schemata:
[Cardinal Joseph Frings] began to send me [the schemata] regularly in order to have my criticism and suggestions for improvement. Naturally I took exception to certain things, but I found no grounds for a radical rejection of what was being proposed. It is true that the documents bore only weak traces of the biblical and patristic renewal of the last decades, so that they gave an impression of rigidity and narrowness through their excessive dependency on scholastic theology. In other words, they reflected more the thought of scholars than that of shepherds. But I must say that they had a solid foundation and had been carefully elaborated.
Theological influence
One of Tromp's most notable contributions is his support of Pope Pius XII in ghostwritingGhostwriter
A ghostwriter is a professional writer who is paid to write books, articles, stories, reports, or other texts that are officially credited to another person. Celebrities, executives, and political leaders often hire ghostwriters to draft or edit autobiographies, magazine articles, or other written...
the encyclical Mystici corporis Christi
Mystici Corporis Christi
Mystici Corporis Christi is a papal encyclical issued by Pope Pius XII during World War II, on the Church as the Mystical Body of Christ. It is one of the more important encyclicals of Pope Pius XII, because of its topic, the Church, and because its Church concept was fully included in Lumen...
in 1943. Encyclicals from that time period with similar phraseology, (e.g., Mediator Dei
Mediator Dei
Mediator Dei, a papal encyclical was issued by Pope Pius XII in 1947. The encyclical suggests new directions and active participation instead of a merely passive role of the faithful in the liturgy, in liturgical ceremonies and in the life of their parish. The encyclical also emphasizes the...
and Humani generis
Humani Generis
Humani generis is a papal encyclical that Pope Pius XII promulgated on 12 August 1950 "concerning some false opinions threatening to undermine the foundations of Catholic Doctrine"...
) may have been influenced by him as well, but the extent of this influence is not known. He also felt a deep intellectual connection to Saint Robert Bellarmine
Robert Bellarmine
Robert Bellarmine was an Italian Jesuit and a Cardinal of the Catholic Church. He was one of the most important figures in the Counter-Reformation...
—the selection of writings presented below is enough to evince his devotion.
"Subsistit in" in Lumen Gentium
Recently Tromp's theology has merited some attention in relation to the Vatican II definition on the identity of the Catholic Church with the Body of Christ, which he greatly influenced. The Council stated that "the Church of Christ subsists in (substit in) the Catholic Church". Father Karl J. Becker, a professor at the Gregorian University, has argued that the phrase "subsists in" was intended by Tromp "to reiterate that the Church of Christ, with the fullness of the means instituted by Christ, perdures forever in the Catholic Church". To some this interpretation signifies the roll-back of an "open Church" concept, while to others it documents consistency in the theology of Sebastian Tromp and the Roman Catholic Church as a whole.Mariology
Before Vatican II, Tromp engaged in a debate with Gabriel RoschiniGabriel Roschini
Gabriel M. Roschini, O.S.M. , was a Roman Catholic Italian priest and professor of Mariology, who published over 900 titles on Mariology. During the pontificate of Pope Pius XII, he worked closely with the Vatican on Marian publications....
regarding the position of Mary in the Mystical Body of Christ.
Roschini demonstrated that numerous writers, starting with Radulfus Ardens
Radulfus Ardens
Radulfus Ardens was a French theologian and early scholastic philosopher of the twelfth century. He was born in Beaulieu, Poitou.He is known for his Summa de vitiis et virtutibus or Speculum universale...
(d. 1200), used the metaphor of a "neck" to indicate Mary's role, and that even the Protestant reformer Johannes Oecolampadius
Johannes Oecolampadius
Johannes Œcolampadius was a German religious reformer. His real name was Hussgen or Heussgen .-Life:He was born in Weinsberg, then part of the Electoral Palatinate...
used that image to describe Mary as mediator of all graces. (The neck had been used through the centuries as an allegory for vital communication within the body.) Roschini quoted Bernardino of Siena
Bernardino of Siena
Saint Bernardino of Siena, O.F.M., was an Italian priest, Franciscan missionary, and is a Catholic saint.-Early life:...
(d. 1444) to that effect: "Mary is the neck of our head, through which all gifts are given to his mystical body." 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...
also considered the neck to be the best image, observing as much in his 1904 encyclical Ad diem illum
Ad Diem Illum
Ad diem Illum Laetissimum is an encyclical of Saint Pope Pius X on the Immaculate Conception, Given at Rome in St. Peter's on the second day of February, 1904, in the first year of his Pontificate. It is issued in commemoration of the fiftieth anniversary of the dogma of the Immaculate conception...
.
Tromp, however, considered the heart, the superior of all parts of the body, a better image. In his defense, he quoted Thomas Aquinas
Thomas Aquinas
Thomas Aquinas, O.P. , also Thomas of Aquin or Aquino, was an Italian Dominican priest of the Catholic Church, and an immensely influential philosopher and theologian in the tradition of scholasticism, known as Doctor Angelicus, Doctor Communis, or Doctor Universalis...
and Pope Leo XIII
Pope Leo XIII
Pope Leo XIII , born Vincenzo Gioacchino Raffaele Luigi Pecci to an Italian comital family, was the 256th Pope of the Roman Catholic Church, reigning from 1878 to 1903...
. According to Tromp, the heart, being in so many ways incomparable to the other parts of the body, parallels the fact that no member of the Church can be compared to Mary. The heart, continued Tromp, is consubstantial with the head and the body, just as Mary's human nature participated with that of Christ and the members of his body. Tromp concluded that because of her motherly love of Christ and of all the members of his body, she deserves to be identified with the heart.
But Roschini was categorically opposed. The heart has influence over the head, and in view of Christ's nature, this is impossible: "After giving him human nature, the Blessed Virgin has no influence whatsoever on Christ as head of the Church". In Mystici corporis, Pius XII avoided this issue, calling Mary simply the "mother" of the mystical body. She was already mother of the head, he wrote, but under the cross she was named mother of all its parts.
Selected writings
Tromp published more than 130 books and articles during his lifetime. A selection of Tromp's theological writings—most published in Latin—follows:Selected works
}
Selected articles from Gregorianum
Works edited