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The Dietrich von Hildebrand LifeGuide

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Pope Benedict XVI once said of Dietrich von Hildebrand: “I am personally convinced that, when, at some time in the future, the intellectual history of the Catholic Church in the twentieth century is written, the name of Dietrich von Hildebrand will be most prominent among the figures of our time.” Besides distinguishing himself by his heroic Christian witness against Nazism, he also distinguished himself as one of the greatest and most original Catholic thinkers of the twentieth century. His profound philosophical work on love, man and woman, sexuality, the heart and the emotions, the foundations of the moral life, natural and Christian virtues, the place of beauty in the life of persons, person and community have inspired and influenced many. But these contributions are still not known as they deserve to be.

In this volume you will find a broad selection of von Hildebrand’s most beautiful and significant insights, presented in a readily accessible way. It will serve as an excellent introduction to the main themes of this outstanding but neglected Catholic thinker.

St. Augustine’s Press’s new LifeGuide™ Series will offer collections of the most memorable thoughts from some of the most inspiring authors in history. Some will be new translations (and, if so, will feature the original languages as well as English), some will be English-only, but all will present the thoughts and words that have changed the lives of millions.

Bound in a small, convenient size, LifeGuides™ will all be very reasonably priced to make them attractive, enduring gifts.

96 pages, Paperback

First published July 30, 2007

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About the author

Dietrich von Hildebrand

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Dietrich von Hildebrand was a German Catholic philosopher and theologian who was called (informally) by Pope Pius XII "the 20th Century Doctor of the Church."

Pope John Paul II greatly admired the work of von Hildebrand, remarking once to von Hildebrand's widow, Alice von Hildebrand, "Your husband is one of the great ethicists of the twentieth century." Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI has a particular admiration and regard for Dietrich von Hildebrand, whom he already knew as a young priest in Munich. In fact, as young Fr. Ratzinger, he even served as an assistant pastor in the church of St. Georg in Munich, which von Hildebrand frequented in the 1950s and 1960s. It was also in St. Georg that Dietrich and Alice von Hildebrand were married.

The degree of Pope Benedict's esteem is expressed in one of his statements about von Hildebrand, "When the intellectual history of the Catholic Church in the twentieth century is written, the name of Dietrich von Hildebrand will be most prominent among the figures of our time." Von Hildebrand was a vocal critic of the changes in the church brought by the Second Vatican Council. He especially resented the new liturgy. Of it he said "Truly, if one of the devils in C.S. Lewis' The Screwtape Letters had been entrusted with the ruin of the liturgy, he could not have done it better."

Von Hildebrand died in New Rochelle, New York, in 1977.

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