Paul Couturier
Encyclopedia
Paul Irénée Couturier was a French priest and a promoter of the concept of Christian unity. He was instrumental in the establishment of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity
.
, France
, to a family with some Jewish blood. He was raised in Algeria
, among the largely Muslim population there, but later returned and was ordained to the priesthood in 1906 as a member of the Society of St. Irenaeus. After spending three years studying physical science, he started teaching at the Institution des Chartreux
at Lyon, where he remained through 1946.
and was introduced to the work of Dom Lambert Beauduin
, which stimulated his own interest in the ecumenical movement. He became an oblate there, and took the name of Benoit-Irenee in acknowledgement of his two primary sources of inspiration. In 1933, he established a Triduum for Christian Unity at Lyon, which later became an Octave
in 1934, extending from the feast of the Chair of Saint Peter
to the feast of the Conversion of Saint Paul
. This was an outgrowth from the Octave for Church Unity which had been established by two Anglicans in 1908. However, Couturier specifically offered his Octave for the unity of any and all baptized into the Christian faith, including Orthodox, Anglican, and other Christian groups. Beginning in 1939, its name was changed to the "Week of Universal Prayer".
He also worked to establish closer ties between the various Christian faiths, arranging meetings at La Trappe
des Dombes and at Présinge. He also maintained a hugh correspondence, with Jews, Muslims, Hindus, and all kinds of Christians, created and distributed a number of tracts on prayer for unity, and kept in close contact with the World Council of Churches
.
He also studied the work of Pierre Teilhard de Chardin
, a fellow scientist, and was strongly influenced by Chardin's view of the unity of all humanity in Christ, regardless of their beliefs. He personally believed that praying for the increased holiness of all peoples would inevitably lead to a greater understanding of God, and eventually a greater understanding of Christ by all peoples of the world.
In 1952, for his work in promoting religious unity he was granted the honorary title of Archimandrite
by the Melkite Greek Catholic Church
Patriarch of Antioch
, Maximos IV Sayegh
. He is also commemorated in the Calendar of saints
of the Anglican Church of Australia
on March 24.
recently summarised important aspects of Couturier's impact:
- Cardinal Walter Kasper
Week of Prayer for Christian Unity
The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity is an international Christian ecumenical observance kept annually between 18 January and 25 January. It is actually an octave, that is, an observance lasting eight days.-Beginnings:...
.
Early life and career
He was born and educated in educated at LyonLyon
Lyon , is a city in east-central France in the Rhône-Alpes region, situated between Paris and Marseille. Lyon is located at from Paris, from Marseille, from Geneva, from Turin, and from Barcelona. The residents of the city are called Lyonnais....
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, to a family with some Jewish blood. He was raised in Algeria
Algeria
Algeria , officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria , also formally referred to as the Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of Northwest Africa with Algiers as its capital.In terms of land area, it is the largest country in Africa and the Arab...
, among the largely Muslim population there, but later returned and was ordained to the priesthood in 1906 as a member of the Society of St. Irenaeus. After spending three years studying physical science, he started teaching at the Institution des Chartreux
Institution des Chartreux
The Institution des Chartreux or more commonly Les Chartreux is a private Roman Catholic educational establishment under a "contract of association" to the French state school system...
at Lyon, where he remained through 1946.
Ecumenism
In the 1920s he worked with the thousands of refugees from Russia and became acquainted with their Russian Orthodox spiritual heritage. Later, in 1932, when he was with the Benedictine Monks of Unity at the Priory of Amay-sur-Meuse, he read an introduction to the work of Cardinal Désiré-Joseph MercierDésiré-Joseph Mercier
-Early life and ordination:Désiré Mercier was born at the château du Castegier in Braine-l'Alleud, as the fifth of the seven children of Paul-Léon Mercier and his wife Anne-Marie Barbe Croquet....
and was introduced to the work of Dom Lambert Beauduin
Dom Lambert Beauduin
Dom Lambert Beauduin was a Belgian monk who founded the monastery now known as Chevetogne Abbey in 1925.He had previously been a monk of the Benedictine Mont César Abbey in Leuven, and been deeply involved with the liturgical movement in Belgium...
, which stimulated his own interest in the ecumenical movement. He became an oblate there, and took the name of Benoit-Irenee in acknowledgement of his two primary sources of inspiration. In 1933, he established a Triduum for Christian Unity at Lyon, which later became an Octave
Octave
In music, an octave is the interval between one musical pitch and another with half or double its frequency. The octave relationship is a natural phenomenon that has been referred to as the "basic miracle of music", the use of which is "common in most musical systems"...
in 1934, extending from the feast of the Chair of Saint Peter
Chair of Saint Peter
The Chair of Saint Peter is a relic conserved in St. Peter's Basilica, enclosed in a gilt bronze casing that was designed by Gian Lorenzo Bernini and executed 1647-53....
to the feast of the Conversion of Saint Paul
Conversion of Paul
The Conversion of Paul the Apostle, as depicted in the Christian Bible, refers to an event reported to have taken place in the life of Paul of Tarsus which led him to cease persecuting early Christians and to himself become a follower of Jesus; it is normally dated by researchers to AD 33–36...
. This was an outgrowth from the Octave for Church Unity which had been established by two Anglicans in 1908. However, Couturier specifically offered his Octave for the unity of any and all baptized into the Christian faith, including Orthodox, Anglican, and other Christian groups. Beginning in 1939, its name was changed to the "Week of Universal Prayer".
He also worked to establish closer ties between the various Christian faiths, arranging meetings at La Trappe
La Trappe
La Trappe is :*La Trappe Abbey, a Trappist monastery in Soligny-la-Trappe, France*a brand of Trappist beers brewed by De Koningshoeven Brewery...
des Dombes and at Présinge. He also maintained a hugh correspondence, with Jews, Muslims, Hindus, and all kinds of Christians, created and distributed a number of tracts on prayer for unity, and kept in close contact with the World Council of Churches
World Council of Churches
The World Council of Churches is a worldwide fellowship of 349 global, regional and sub-regional, national and local churches seeking unity, a common witness and Christian service. It is a Christian ecumenical organization that is based in the Ecumenical Centre in Geneva, Switzerland...
.
He also studied the work of Pierre Teilhard de Chardin
Pierre Teilhard de Chardin
Pierre Teilhard de Chardin SJ was a French philosopher and Jesuit priest who trained as a paleontologist and geologist and took part in the discovery of both Piltdown Man and Peking Man. Teilhard conceived the idea of the Omega Point and developed Vladimir Vernadsky's concept of Noosphere...
, a fellow scientist, and was strongly influenced by Chardin's view of the unity of all humanity in Christ, regardless of their beliefs. He personally believed that praying for the increased holiness of all peoples would inevitably lead to a greater understanding of God, and eventually a greater understanding of Christ by all peoples of the world.
In 1952, for his work in promoting religious unity he was granted the honorary title of Archimandrite
Archimandrite
The title Archimandrite , primarily used in the Eastern Orthodox and the Eastern Catholic churches, originally referred to a superior abbot whom a bishop appointed to supervise...
by the Melkite Greek Catholic Church
Melkite Greek Catholic Church
The Melkite Greek Catholic Church is an Eastern Catholic Church in full communion with the Holy See as part of the worldwide Catholic Church. The Melkites, Byzantine Rite Catholics of mixed Eastern Mediterranean and Greek origin, trace their history to the early Christians of Antioch, Syria, of...
Patriarch of Antioch
Patriarch of Antioch
Patriarch of Antioch is a traditional title held by the Bishop of Antioch. As the traditional "overseer" of the first gentile Christian community, the position has been of prime importance in the church from its earliest period...
, Maximos IV Sayegh
Maximos IV Sayegh
Maximos IV Sayegh was Patriarch of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church from 1947 until his death in 1967. One of the fathers of Second Vatican Council, the outspoken patriarch stirred the Council by urging reconciliation between the Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches...
. He is also commemorated in the Calendar of saints
Calendar of saints (Anglican Church of Australia)
The calendar of the Anglican Church of Australia follows Anglican tradition with the addition of significant people and events in the church in Australia....
of the Anglican Church of Australia
Anglican Church of Australia
The Anglican Church of Australia is a member church of the Anglican Communion. It was previously officially known as the Church of England in Australia and Tasmania...
on March 24.
Impact
Couturier's philosophy of ecumenism is reflected upon during Weeks of Prayer for Christian Unity. Cardinal Walter Kasper of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian UnityPontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity
The Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity origins are associated with the Second Vatican Council which met intermittently from 1962–1965.Pope John XXIII wanted the Catholic Church to engage in the contemporary ecumenical movement...
recently summarised important aspects of Couturier's impact:
While [Father Paul] Wattson maintained that the goal of unity was the return to the Catholic Church, Abbé Paul Couturier of Lyons (1881–1953) gave a new impetus to this Week in the 1930s, ecumenical in the true sense of the word. He changed the name "Church Unity Octave" to "Universal Week of Prayer for Christian UnityWeek of Prayer for Christian UnityThe Week of Prayer for Christian Unity is an international Christian ecumenical observance kept annually between 18 January and 25 January. It is actually an octave, that is, an observance lasting eight days.-Beginnings:...
", thus furthering a unity of the Church that "Christ wills by the means he wills".
Paul Couturier's 1944 spiritual testament is very important, profound and moving; it is one of the most inspired ecumenical texts, still worth reading and meditating on today. The author speaks of an "invisible monastery", "built of all those souls whom, because of their sincere efforts to open themselves to his fire and his light, the Holy Spirit has enabled to have a deep understanding of the painful division among Christians; an awareness of this in these souls has given rise to continuous suffering and as a result, regular recourse to prayer and penance".
Paul Couturier can be considered the father of spiritual ecumenism. His influence was felt by the Dombes GroupDombes GroupThe Dombes Group is an unofficial gathering of 20 Roman-Catholic and 20 Protestant theologians that has met regularly since 1937 in a small monastery near Lyon, France. It was found by Paul Couturier , a French priest who worked in ecumenical circles. It is not just a mere theological gathering but...
and by Roger Schutz and the Taizé CommunityTaizé CommunityThe Taizé Community is an ecumenical monastic order in Taizé, Saône-et-Loire, Burgundy, France. It is composed of about 100 brothers who come from Protestant, Eastern Orthodox and Catholic traditions. The brothers come from about 30 countries across the world. The monastic order has a strong...
. Sr. Maria GabriellaMaria Gabriella SaghedduBlessed Sister Maria Gabriella Sagheddu was a Trappist nun. She was born in Sardinia in 1914 and died of tuberculosis in the Trappist monastery of Grottaferrata in 1939...
also drew great inspiration from him. Today, his invisible monastery is at last taking shape through the growing number of prayer networks between Catholic monasteries and non-Catholics, spiritual movements and communities, centres of male and female religious, Bishops, priests and lay people.
- Cardinal Walter Kasper
See also
- Week of Prayer for Christian UnityWeek of Prayer for Christian UnityThe Week of Prayer for Christian Unity is an international Christian ecumenical observance kept annually between 18 January and 25 January. It is actually an octave, that is, an observance lasting eight days.-Beginnings:...
- Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian UnityPontifical Council for Promoting Christian UnityThe Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity origins are associated with the Second Vatican Council which met intermittently from 1962–1965.Pope John XXIII wanted the Catholic Church to engage in the contemporary ecumenical movement...
- World Council of ChurchesWorld Council of ChurchesThe World Council of Churches is a worldwide fellowship of 349 global, regional and sub-regional, national and local churches seeking unity, a common witness and Christian service. It is a Christian ecumenical organization that is based in the Ecumenical Centre in Geneva, Switzerland...
- EcumenismEcumenismEcumenism or oecumenism mainly refers to initiatives aimed at greater Christian unity or cooperation. It is used predominantly by and with reference to Christian denominations and Christian Churches separated by doctrine, history, and practice...
- Catholic Church and ecumenismCatholic Church and ecumenismThe Catholic Church has been heavily involved in the ecumenical movement since the Second Vatican Council .- Before the Second Vatican Council :...