Bernard Häring, CSsR (10 November 1912 – 3 July 1998) was a German moral theologian and a

Redemptorist The Redemptorists officially named the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer ( la, links=no, Congregatio Sanctissimi Redemptoris), abbreviated CSsR,is a Catholic clerical religious congregation of pontifical right for men (priests and brother ...

priest in the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

Life

Häring was born at

Böttingen Böttingen is a municipality in the district of Tuttlingen in Baden-Württemberg in Germany. In recent decades it has developed from an agricultural village to an advanced industrial community. Geography Böttingen sits on a plateau in the south ...

in Germany to a

peasant A peasant is a pre-industrial agricultural laborer or a farmer with limited land-ownership, especially one living in the Middle Ages under feudalism and paying rent, tax, fees, or services to a landlord. In Europe, three classes of peasants ...

family. At the age of 12, he entered the

seminary A seminary, school of theology, theological seminary, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called ''seminarians'') in scripture, theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as clergy, ...

. Later, he took vows as a member of the

Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer The Redemptorists officially named the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer ( la, links=no, Congregatio Sanctissimi Redemptoris), abbreviated CSsR,is a Catholic clerical religious congregation of pontifical right for men (priests and brother ...

, was ordained a priest, and sent as a missionary to Brazil. He studied moral theology in obedience to his superiors. During World War II, he was conscripted by the German army and served as a medic. Although forbidden from performing priestly functions by the Nazi authorities, he brought the sacraments to Catholic soldiers. In 1954, he came to fame as a moral theologian with his three volume, ''The Law of Christ.'' The work received ecclesiastical approval but was written in a style different from the Manual Tradition. It was translated into more than 12 languages. Between 1949 and 1987, he taught

moral theology Ethics involves systematizing, defending, and recommending concepts of right and wrong behavior.''Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy''"Ethics"/ref> A central aspect of ethics is "the good life", the life worth living or life that is simply sati ...

Alphonsian Academy 150px, St. Alphonsus de Liguori, whose teachings inspired the establishment of the Academy. The Pontifical Alphonsian Academy (; ), also commonly known as the Alphonsianum, is a pontifical institution of higher education founded in 1949 by the Re ...

in Rome. He served as a (expert) at the

Second Vatican Council The Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the , or , was the 21st Catholic ecumenical councils, ecumenical council of the Roman Catholic Church. The council met in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome for four periods (or sessions) ...

from 1962 to 1965, and was on the mixed commission which prepared the pastoral constitution, ''

Gaudium et Spes ''Gaudium et spes'' (, "Joy and Hope"), the Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World, is one of the four constitutions resulting from the Second Vatican Council in 1965. It was the last and longest published document from the coun ...

''. Häring taught at various universities including the University of San Francisco, Fordham, Yale, Brown, Temple, and the Kennedy Institute for Bioethics at Georgetown. A prolific writer, Häring produced about 80 books and 1,000 articles. He died of a stroke at the age of 85 at

Haag in Oberbayern Haag in Oberbayern is a municipality in the district of Mühldorf in Bavaria in Germany, in December 2013 the municipality had a population of 6359. Geography Haag is situated about 50 km east of Munich, 15 km south of Dorfen, 21 km west of Wa ...

, Germany. Häring established himself as a leader in moving Catholic moral theology to a more personalist and scripture-based approach.

Dialogical approach to Catholic moral theology

Bernard Häring, presents a dialogical approach to Catholic moral theology in his trilogies ''The Law of Christ'' and ''Free and Faithful in Christ''. In this approach, morality follows the pattern of faith necessitating a dialogue. This approach to morality rests on the person's conscience that acknowledges God as basis of value. "God speaks in many ways to awaken, deepen and strengthen faith, hope, love and the spirit of adoration. We are believers to the extent that, in all of reality and in all events that touch us, we perceive a gift and a call from God." Bernard Häring, ''Free and Faithful in Christ'', I, Slough 1978, 64.

Selected works

* erman 1954 3 Vols. * * * * * * * * * * * * ( 3 Vols.) *

References

External links

Obituary in NYT
{{DEFAULTSORT:Haring, Berhard 1912 births 1998 deaths People from Tuttlingen (district) 20th-century German Catholic theologians Christian ethicists Redemptorists Roman Catholic moral theologians German male non-fiction writers Participants in the Second Vatican Council Commanders Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Recipients of the Order of Merit of Baden-Württemberg 20th-century German Roman Catholic priests