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The Catholic Avant-Garde: French Catholicism Since World War II
245 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1967
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September 22, 2024
A 1967 COLLECTION OF WRITINGS FROM VARIOUS FRENCH CATHOLIC WRITERS
The editors of this 1967 book were also editors of two French religious periodicals. They explain in the Introduction, "This book... is a collection of testimony and key documents dealing with the great renewal which has shaken French Catholicism since World War II... we have tried to acquaint the reader with some of the actors in an impassioned and meaningful part of history. Some of them will be familiar names... others are more obscure... we French are neither universal doctors nor incendiaries. We do not represent the whole world; we are not the Church. We do, however, have a certain virile habit of faith... Perhaps our chief merit is a natural sensitivity to the great changes which have marked the twentieth century since the beginning of the First World War." (Pg. 3-4)
Writers in this collection include Henri de Lubac, Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, Yves Congar, and Francois Mauriac (along with many more probably unknown to most American readers).
And essay points out, "Today, confronted by a socioeconomic system which reduces the proletariat to slavery, the Catholic conscience unfortunately does not consider itself part of the suffering community of workers; humanity, therefore, is organizing itself without Catholicism, and without the hope that all its efforts may converge in a unique salvation." (Pg. 36)
Another observes, "We need fewer sacraments of the dead, and more sacraments for life---the sacrament of commitment to the Redemption of the world, of adult awareness of Christian responsibility, of love, of the common meal, and, provided it rediscover its humanity, of the priesthood." (Pg. 40)
An essay states, "After we recognize what Communism brings to humanity, we need to be told clearly what Christ will bring to men who will own their first liberation to Communism!" (Pg. 72)
Another says, "It is evident that the mystical expression of St. John of the Cross presupposes not only natural gifts but also an education and other advantages which most men do not have. But since mystical life is not definable simply by its conditions, it would be a Gnostic view to make it an essentially cultural phenomenon reserved to a certain intellectual or social aristocracy: every human being, no matter how anonymous, bears in his heart, even if he does not know it, the heart of a God which he can hear throbbing from the depth of distress. Love does not single out anybody; it does not belong to anyone by priority." (Pg. 126-127)
The editors admit, "France emerged from World War II poorly prepared to understand the immense aspiration to independence of colonized peoples. For years Frenchmen had complacently assumed that they were bringing progress and civilization to the unenlightened; with their memories of the Occupation so recent, it was impossible for them to take seriously the idea that they, in their turn, might be oppressors." (Pg. 184)
An essayist says, "I have never argued religion with my Algerian friends; as for politics, I was on their side as a man of God, regardless of their political choices... What they told me themselves, however, was that 'It is not France as such that we hate, but an unjust regime.'" (Pg. 198)
The editors summarize, "If someone were to ask what has changed the most in France in the past twenty years, we would answer: the Catholic Church. When the war began, the French Church still viewed itself as a fortress besieged by secularism, modernism, and Communism... The Church of France... still clung to the notion of Christendom as an alliance of the land, the parish priest, and conservative political power. The foundations of that Christendom were being constantly eroded; another world was already being built, whose values and customs seemed far from those of the Church." (Pg. 231-232)
They add, "Avant-garde Catholics took the first risks which made aggiornamento possible. They do not claim any privileges or thanks for it---they simply hope that others will draw a lesson from their experience." (Pg. 233)
What was "avant-garde" in 1967 is hardly still so nearly sixty years later. Still, there are some thoughtful and provocative excerpts in the various essays and excerpts in this volume, so that it can still be interesting reading
The editors of this 1967 book were also editors of two French religious periodicals. They explain in the Introduction, "This book... is a collection of testimony and key documents dealing with the great renewal which has shaken French Catholicism since World War II... we have tried to acquaint the reader with some of the actors in an impassioned and meaningful part of history. Some of them will be familiar names... others are more obscure... we French are neither universal doctors nor incendiaries. We do not represent the whole world; we are not the Church. We do, however, have a certain virile habit of faith... Perhaps our chief merit is a natural sensitivity to the great changes which have marked the twentieth century since the beginning of the First World War." (Pg. 3-4)
Writers in this collection include Henri de Lubac, Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, Yves Congar, and Francois Mauriac (along with many more probably unknown to most American readers).
And essay points out, "Today, confronted by a socioeconomic system which reduces the proletariat to slavery, the Catholic conscience unfortunately does not consider itself part of the suffering community of workers; humanity, therefore, is organizing itself without Catholicism, and without the hope that all its efforts may converge in a unique salvation." (Pg. 36)
Another observes, "We need fewer sacraments of the dead, and more sacraments for life---the sacrament of commitment to the Redemption of the world, of adult awareness of Christian responsibility, of love, of the common meal, and, provided it rediscover its humanity, of the priesthood." (Pg. 40)
An essay states, "After we recognize what Communism brings to humanity, we need to be told clearly what Christ will bring to men who will own their first liberation to Communism!" (Pg. 72)
Another says, "It is evident that the mystical expression of St. John of the Cross presupposes not only natural gifts but also an education and other advantages which most men do not have. But since mystical life is not definable simply by its conditions, it would be a Gnostic view to make it an essentially cultural phenomenon reserved to a certain intellectual or social aristocracy: every human being, no matter how anonymous, bears in his heart, even if he does not know it, the heart of a God which he can hear throbbing from the depth of distress. Love does not single out anybody; it does not belong to anyone by priority." (Pg. 126-127)
The editors admit, "France emerged from World War II poorly prepared to understand the immense aspiration to independence of colonized peoples. For years Frenchmen had complacently assumed that they were bringing progress and civilization to the unenlightened; with their memories of the Occupation so recent, it was impossible for them to take seriously the idea that they, in their turn, might be oppressors." (Pg. 184)
An essayist says, "I have never argued religion with my Algerian friends; as for politics, I was on their side as a man of God, regardless of their political choices... What they told me themselves, however, was that 'It is not France as such that we hate, but an unjust regime.'" (Pg. 198)
The editors summarize, "If someone were to ask what has changed the most in France in the past twenty years, we would answer: the Catholic Church. When the war began, the French Church still viewed itself as a fortress besieged by secularism, modernism, and Communism... The Church of France... still clung to the notion of Christendom as an alliance of the land, the parish priest, and conservative political power. The foundations of that Christendom were being constantly eroded; another world was already being built, whose values and customs seemed far from those of the Church." (Pg. 231-232)
They add, "Avant-garde Catholics took the first risks which made aggiornamento possible. They do not claim any privileges or thanks for it---they simply hope that others will draw a lesson from their experience." (Pg. 233)
What was "avant-garde" in 1967 is hardly still so nearly sixty years later. Still, there are some thoughtful and provocative excerpts in the various essays and excerpts in this volume, so that it can still be interesting reading
August 23, 2015
Mixed bag.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews