Gregory Baum

Gregory Baum (born 1923) is a Canadian Roman Catholic theologian.

Born in Berlin, Germany, he came to Canada from England in 1940. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree in mathematics and physics in 1946 from McMaster University, a Master of Arts degree in mathematics in 1947 from Ohio State University, and a Th.D. in 1956 from the University of Fribourg.

He was the Professor of theology and sociology at University of Saint Michael's College in the University of Toronto and subsequently professor of theological ethics at McGill University's Faculty of Religious Studies. He is currently associated with the Jesuit Centre justice et foi in Montreal.

During the church council Vatican II he was a peritus, or theological advisor, at the Ecumenical Secretariat, the commission responsible for three conciliar documents, On Religious Liberty, On Ecumenism, and On the Church's Relation to Non-Christian Religions. In particular, he advocated the position, as a response to the Holocaust, of the Jewish rabbi and philosopher Emil Fackenheim regarding the cessation of efforts to convert the Jews, famously stating: "After Auschwitz the Christian churches no longer wish to convert the Jews. While they may not be sure of the theological grounds that dispense them from this mission, the churches have become aware that asking the Jews to become Christians is a spiritual way of blotting them out of existence and thus only reinforces the effects of the Holocaust." [1] [cite http://www.oikoumene.org/?id=5628#sdendnote6sym]

From 1962 to 2004, he was the editor of The Ecumenist, a review of theology, culture and society, as well as a member and frequent editor of the international Catholic review "Concilium".

His books include:
*"That They May Be One", Newman Press, 1958.
*"The Credibility of the Church Today", Herder & Herder, 1968.
*"Man Becoming", Herder & Herder, 1970.
*"Religion and Alienation", Paulist Press, 1975.
*"Truth Beyond Relativity: Karl Mannheim's Sociology of Knowledge", The Marquette Lecture, Marquette University Press, 1977.
*"The Priority of Labour: Commentary on John Paul II’s `Laborem exercens,"’ Paulist Press, 1982.
*"Theology and Society", Paulist Press, 1986.
*"Compassion and Solidarity: The Church for Others" (The 1987 CBC Massey Lectures), Anansi Press, 1988.
*"The Church in Quebec", Novalis, 1992.
*"Karl Polanyi on Ethics and Economics," McGill-Queen's University Press, 1996.
*"Nationalism, Religion and Ethics", McGill-Queen's University Press, 2001.

A second edition of his seminal 1975 book, "Religion and Alienation" was republished by Novalis in 2006.

He hold honorary doctorates from Huron University College, London, Ontario; St. Francis Xavier University, Antigonish, N.S; Ohio Wesleyan University, Delaware, Ohio; Lafayette College, Easton, Pa.; Waterloo Lutheran University, Waterloo, Ontario; McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario; Concordia University, Montreal.

In 1990, he was made an Officer of the Order of Canada in recognition of being "a guide and inspiration to generations of students of many different faiths and backgrounds". [cite web|url=http://www.gg.ca/honours/search-recherche/honours-desc.asp?lang=e&TypeID=orc&id=2728|title=Order of Canada citation]

Baum left the priesthood in 1976.

References

[1] Ed. Gregory Baum, The Twentieth Century. A Theological Overview, (Orbis Books Maryknoll, New York - G. Chapman, London 1999)

External links

* [http://www.philosophyandscripture.org/Issue2-2/Baum/Baum.html An Interview with Gregory Baum “Faith, Community & Liberation”]