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LITURGICAL PIONEERS

Yves Congar, op (1904 –1995)

Heralded the “most distinguished “The church was born from the side of Christ ecclesiologist” of the twentieth century by Richard McBrien on the cross, according to the symbols of ( Digest,vol. 32 [1985], 203), and labeled a man filled water and blood, just as Eve came forth from with “pastoral compassion, ecu- menical love, and a passion for the sleeping Adam. The church is thus . . . the truth” by Paul Philibert (U.S. Historian, vol. 17 linked to the sacraments and vowed to [1999], 120), Yves Congar, op, labored in love for the renewal of sacrifice. She is the Spouse and the Body of Photo courtesy of the Archives Saul choir Libray the Church. and then destined for the Christ-the-Priest, and definitively united with Congar’s academic voca- service of the world” (Congar, tion began in the 1930s with a him so as to continue the unique and “Remarks on the Occasion of personal dedication to the study Receiving the Watson Prize for of the Church, and more pre- everlasting sacrifice that she offers day after ,” December 1984). cisely, to the project of bettering Associated with this inter- the life of the Church. At a time day, with him and by his power.” est in ecumenism was Congar’s when Church identity was syn- investment in a theology of the onymous with the hierarchy, he (“The Ecclesia or Christian Community as a Whole Celebrates the Holy Spirit as animator of the Liturgy,” 1967) wrote: “[W]e are the face of the Church. Congar’s three-volume church: we are the ones who study of the Spirit, I Believe in the make it visible; my God, for the sake of your church, make in us Holy Spirit, was published from 1979 to 19 80, and his The Word a truly living face!” (Quote found in U.S. Catholic Historian, 17 and the Spirit was published in 1984. Here, he clearly articulated [1999], 68). Thus, one of Congar’s major contributions was the what he called a “pneumatological .” He argued that affirmation of an ecclesiology rooted solidly in the understand- the Church exists as a perpetual epiclesis — a petition for the ing of the Church as the Body of Christ. working of grace: “Every action performed by the ministry calls Critical in Congar’s life was the dilemma of forced con- for an epiclesis” (Congar, I Believe in the Holy Spirit, vol. 3, 271). finement. When France declared war on Germany in 1939, he Perhaps no other task meant more to Congar than partici- was called into military service. As a from 1940 pating in the as a . Congar tire- to 1945, he lamented that he was losing his best years for lessly served on the Preparatory Theological Commission for the research and teaching. Simultaneously, he experienced another Council, attended its four sessions, and played an indispensible kind of captivity, namely, that of suspicion and persecution on role in the drafting of Lumen Gentium, Dei Verbum, and the part of ecclesial authorities wary of French theological Gaudium et Spes, as well as several declarations and decrees. advances. By 1942, one of Congar’s books was placed on the Yves Congar was ninety years old when named a cardinal Index, and his Dominican friend and mentor, Marie- in 1994. “His elevation to the ,” writes Paul Dominique Chenu was removed from his post at Le Saulchoir. Philibert, “not only recognized Congar’s worldview would continue to be formed by the shack- his long life of scholarship and les of physical exile, the condemnation of his writing, and the his immense contributions to the silencing of his voice. Church’s theological patrimony For Congar, ecclesial renewal was ecumenical in nature. and contemporary renewal, but This meant more than a return of those communities estranged his steadfast loyalty to a Church from Roman Catholicism; it called for frank dialogue among that had treated him unjustly” Christians. Congar envisioned ecumenism as “a theological work (120). Congar died on June 22, done by a theologian to assist the in moving 1995, in , prophetic in his from a vision of the church that was too juridical to a vision of the enduring hope. proceeding under the active inspiration of the

The 50th Anniversary of the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy: A Celebration © 2013 Archdiocese of Chicago: Liturgy Training Publications. Orders: 1-800-933-1800. Written by Stephen S. Wilbricht, csc, std. This material originally appeared in Pastoral Liturgy® magazine. Imprimatur granted by the Reverend Monsignor John F. Canary, Vicar General, Archdiocese of Chicago on June 5, 2013.