Sebastiaan Peter Cornelis Tromp (16 March 1889 – 8 February 1975) was a Dutch
Jesuit priest, theologian, and Latinist, who is best known for assisting
Pope Pius XII in his theological
encyclicals, and
Pope John XXIII
Pope John XXIII ( la, Ioannes XXIII; it, Giovanni XXIII; born Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli, ; 25 November 18813 June 1963) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 28 October 1958 until his death in June 19 ...
in the preparation for
Vatican II
The Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the , or , was the 21st ecumenical council of the Roman Catholic Church. The council met in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome for four periods (or sessions), each lasting between 8 and ...
. He was an assistant to Cardinal
Alfredo Ottaviani
Alfredo Ottaviani (29 October 1890 – 3 August 1979) was an Italian cardinal of the Catholic Church. Pope Pius XII named him cardinal in 1953. He served as secretary of the Holy Office in the Roman Curia from 1959 to 1966 when that dicaste ...
during the Council and professor of Catholic theology at the
Pontifical Gregorian University
The Pontifical Gregorian University ( it, Pontificia Università Gregoriana; also known as the Gregorian or Gregoriana,) is a higher education ecclesiastical school ( pontifical university) located in Rome, Italy.
The Gregorian originated as ...
from 1929 until 1967.
Early life
Sebastian Tromp was born in March 1889, the first son of Cornelis Gerardus Tromp (German: Kornelius Gerhard Tromp), a teacher in the Netherlands, and Maria Catherina Lörper. His mother was from an expatriate German family, expelled during the ''
Kulturkampf''.
Ecclesiastical career
After his graduation from high school in 1907, Tromp entered the
Society of Jesus
, image = Ihs-logo.svg
, image_size = 175px
, caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits
, abbreviation = SJ
, nickname = Jesuits
, formation =
, founders ...
at Canisius College in
Nijmegen. He studied in the novitiate at Mariëndaal, and continued on for a triennium in philosophy at
Oudenbosch
Oudenbosch () is a town in the municipality of Halderberge in the west of the Dutch province of North Brabant. Oudenbosch is well known for its 'Basiliek', a Catholic church that is a smaller copy of St. Peter's Basilica in Rome.
History
The vi ...
. An exceptional Latinist, Tromp achieved a doctorate in
Classical Languages
A classical language is any language with an independent literary tradition and a large and ancient body of written literature. Classical languages are typically dead languages, or show a high degree of diglossia, as the spoken varieties of the ...
from the
University of Amsterdam
The University of Amsterdam (abbreviated as UvA, nl, Universiteit van Amsterdam) is a public research university located in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The UvA is one of two large, publicly funded research universities in the city, the other being ...
in 1921. He received
Holy Orders on 8 October 1922 and thus became a Jesuit priest; he completed his theological studies in 1926 at the
Pontifical Gregorian University
The Pontifical Gregorian University ( it, Pontificia Università Gregoriana; also known as the Gregorian or Gregoriana,) is a higher education ecclesiastical school ( pontifical university) located in Rome, Italy.
The Gregorian originated as ...
.
Until 1929, Tromp taught as a professor of Latin, Greek, and fundamental theology at the ''Theologicum'' of the Jesuit Order in
Maastricht
Maastricht ( , , ; li, Mestreech ; french: Maestricht ; es, Mastrique ) is a city and a municipality in the southeastern Netherlands. It is the capital and largest city of the province of Limburg. Maastricht is located on both sides of the ...
, when he was relocated to the Gregorian University as an instructor in the same subject. Tromp quickly attracted attention, and in 1936 he was appointed consultator of the
Holy Office
The Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF) is the oldest among the departments of the Roman Curia. Its seat is the Palace of the Holy Office in Rome. It was founded to defend the Catholic Church from heresy and is the body responsible f ...
. Tromp had already elaborated on the dangers of
Nazism
Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) i ...
by 1937, and translated and referenced the encyclical 1937 ''
Mit brennender Sorge
''Mit brennender Sorge'' ( , in English "With deep anxiety") ''On the Church and the German Reich'' is an encyclical of Pope Pius XI, issued during the Nazi era on 10 March 1937 (but bearing a date of Passion Sunday, 14 March)."Church and st ...
'' against the errors and dangers of the National Socialist state. He was appointed apostolic visitator, and performed apostolic visitations of professors at Dutch
major seminaries and the
Catholic University of Nijmegen
Radboud University (abbreviated as RU, nl, Radboud Universiteit , formerly ''Katholieke Universiteit Nijmegen'') is a public research university located in Nijmegen, the Netherlands. The university bears the name of Saint Radboud, a 9th century ...
in 1939, after the end of the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...
, and in 1955. The purpose of these visits was to expose the teaching of
Neo-Modernist theological propositions—especially those directly condemned in the 1907 encyclical ''
Pascendi dominici gregis''. He came under some criticism for the zeal with which he carried out these examinations.
In 1951, Tromp was made a member of the
Royal Academy of Sciences of Belgium. While progressive theologians despised his doctrinal orthodoxy, he was not a humorless academic, and became a much-loved preacher during annual meetings of the minor seminary at
Rolduc
Rolduc is the name of a medieval abbey located on the edge of the town of Kerkrade in the far south-east of the Netherlands. It is today a Roman Catholic seminary with an affiliated conference center. The abbey is a '' rijksmonument'' (Dutch n ...
. He also had a true pastoral personality, helping several couples obtaining an
annulment
Annulment is a legal procedure within secular and religious legal systems for declaring a marriage null and void. Unlike divorce, it is usually retroactive, meaning that an annulled marriage is considered to be invalid from the beginning al ...
of their previous marriages in the Vatican, but only after a rigid investigation; even valid annulments were often rejected as impious and sinful in the strict Catholic atmosphere of the Dutch parishes before 1960.
Second Vatican Council
At the
Second Vatican Council
The Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the , or , was the 21st ecumenical council of the Roman Catholic Church. The council met in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome for four periods (or sessions), each lasting between 8 and ...
, Tromp served as secretary of the Preparatory Theological Commission at the specific request of Pope John XXIII, and, later, as the secretary of the Doctrinal Commission under Cardinal
Alfredo Ottaviani
Alfredo Ottaviani (29 October 1890 – 3 August 1979) was an Italian cardinal of the Catholic Church. Pope Pius XII named him cardinal in 1953. He served as secretary of the Holy Office in the Roman Curia from 1959 to 1966 when that dicaste ...
. His preparations—or ''schemata''—were shelved, after some Western European Council fathers appealed to Pope John XXIII for total free debate on all issues.
Karl Rahner
Karl Rahner (5 March 1904 – 30 March 1984) was a German Jesuit priest and theologian who, alongside Henri de Lubac, Hans Urs von Balthasar, and Yves Congar, is considered to be one of the most influential Roman Catholic theologians of ...
considered Tromp to be a formidable theological opponent during the council debates, and gently asserted that "
romp Romp or ROMP may refer to:
* IBM ROMP
The ROMP is a reduced instruction set computer (RISC) microprocessor designed by IBM in the late 1970s. It is also known as the Research OPD Miniprocessor (after the two IBM divisions that collaborated on i ...
thought his schemata would simply need the blessing of the Council fathers and that would be the council. But all his schemata disappeared—not a single one was discussed".
Ratzinger and Tromp
Others opposed Tromp as well. At the Council,
Karl Rahner
Karl Rahner (5 March 1904 – 30 March 1984) was a German Jesuit priest and theologian who, alongside Henri de Lubac, Hans Urs von Balthasar, and Yves Congar, is considered to be one of the most influential Roman Catholic theologians of ...
was joined by
Joseph Ratzinger
Pope Benedict XVI ( la, Benedictus XVI; it, Benedetto XVI; german: link=no, Benedikt XVI.; born Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger, , on 16 April 1927) is a retired prelate of the Catholic church who served as the head of the Church and the soverei ...
(the future Pope Benedict XVI),
Aloys Grillmeier, Otto Semmelroth and
Hans Küng
Hans Küng (; 19 March 1928 – 6 April 2021) was a Swiss Catholic priest, theologian, and author. From 1995 he was president of the Foundation for a Global Ethic (Stiftung Weltethos).
Küng was ordained a priest in 1954, joined the faculty o ...
, all of whom worked for the German Cardinals
Josef Frings
Josef Richard Frings (6 February 1887 – 17 December 1978), was a German Cardinal of the Catholic Church. He served as Archbishop of Cologne from 1942 to 1969. Considered a significant figure in Catholic resistance to Nazism, he was elevated to th ...
of Cologne and
Julius Döpfner
Julius August Döpfner (26 August 1913 – 24 July 1976) was a German Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church who served as Archbishop of Munich and Freising from 1961 until his death, and was elevated to the cardinalate in 1958.
Biography Early lif ...
of Munich and Freising. Some of them opposed the schemata drawn up by Ottaviani and Tromp's preparatory commission, and when the group achieved the shelving of these schemata, it meant that the Council Fathers no longer had any written basis of preparation, and, consequently, that the conciliar bishops had no structure, strategy, or agenda to rely on.
Ratzinger was opposed to this radical move by the Rahner group, believing that it effectively derailed the Council. In his memoirs, he presents a balanced view of Tromp's schemata:
ardinal Joseph Fringsbegan to send me he schemataregularly in order to have my criticism and suggestions for improvement. Naturally I took exception to certain things, but I found no grounds for a radical rejection of what was being proposed. It is true that the documents bore only weak traces of the biblical and patristic renewal of the last decades, so that they gave an impression of rigidity and narrowness through their excessive dependency on scholastic theology. In other words, they reflected more the thought of scholars than that of shepherds. But I must say that they had a solid foundation and had been carefully elaborated.
Theological influence
One of Tromp's most notable contributions is his support of Pope Pius XII in
ghostwriting
A ghostwriter is hired to write literary or journalistic works, speeches, or other texts that are officially credited to another person as the author. Celebrities, executives, participants in timely news stories, and political leaders often h ...
the encyclical ''
Mystici corporis Christi
''Mystici corporis Christi'' (English: 'The Mystical Body of Christ') is a papal encyclical issued by Pope Pius XII on 29 June 1943 during World War II. It is principally remembered for its statement that the Mystical Body of Christ is the Cath ...
'' in 1943. Encyclicals from that time period with similar phraseology (e.g., ''
Mediator Dei
''Mediator Dei'' (''Mediator etweenGod'') is a papal encyclical issued by Pope Pius XII on 20 November 1947. It was the first encyclical devoted entirely to liturgy.
The encyclical suggested new directions and active participation instead of a me ...
'' and ''
Humani generis
''Humani generis'' is a papal encyclical that Pope Pius XII promulgated on 12 August 1950 "concerning some false opinions threatening to undermine the foundations of Catholic Doctrine". Theological opinions and doctrines known as ''Nouvelle Théol ...
'') may have been influenced by him as well, but the extent of this influence is not known. He also felt a deep intellectual connection to
Saint Robert Bellarmine—the selection of writings presented below is enough to evince his devotion.
"Subsistit in" in ''Lumen Gentium''
Recently Tromp's theology has merited some attention in relation to the Vatican II definition on the identity of the Catholic Church with the Body of Christ, which he greatly influenced. The Council stated that "the Church of Christ
subsists in (''subsistit in'') the Catholic Church". Father Karl J. Becker, a professor at the Gregorian University, has argued that the phrase "subsists in" was intended by Tromp "to reiterate that the Church of Christ, with the fullness of the means instituted by Christ,
perdures forever in the Catholic Church". To some this interpretation signifies the roll-back of an "open Church" concept, while to others it documents consistency in the theology of Sebastian Tromp and the Roman Catholic Church as a whole.
Mariology
Before Vatican II, Tromp engaged in a debate with
Gabriel Roschini regarding the position of Mary in the Mystical Body of Christ.
Roschini demonstrated that numerous writers, starting with
Radulfus Ardens (d. 1200), used the metaphor of a "neck" to indicate Mary's role, and that even the Protestant reformer
Johannes Oecolampadius
Johannes Oecolampadius (also ''Œcolampadius'', in German also Oekolampadius, Oekolampad; 1482 – 24 November 1531) was a German Protestant reformer in the Calvinist tradition from the Electoral Palatinate. He was the leader of the Protestant ...
used that image to describe Mary as mediator of all graces. (The neck had been used through the centuries as an allegory for vital communication within the body.) Roschini quoted
Bernardino of Siena
Bernardino of Siena, OFM (8 September 138020 May 1444), also known as Bernardine, was an Italian priest and Franciscan missionary preacher in Italy. He was a systematizer of Scholastic economics. His preaching, his book burnings, and his " bon ...
(d. 1444) to that effect: "Mary is the neck of our head, through which all gifts are given to his mystical body."
Pope Pius X also considered the neck to be the best image, observing as much in his 1904 encyclical ''
Ad diem illum''.
Tromp, however, considered the heart, the superior of all parts of the body, a better image. In his defense, he quoted
Thomas Aquinas
Thomas Aquinas, OP (; it, Tommaso d'Aquino, lit=Thomas of Aquino; 1225 – 7 March 1274) was an Italian Dominican friar and priest who was an influential philosopher, theologian and jurist in the tradition of scholasticism; he is known wit ...
and
Pope Leo XIII
Pope Leo XIII ( it, Leone XIII; born Vincenzo Gioacchino Raffaele Luigi Pecci; 2 March 1810 – 20 July 1903) was the head of the Catholic Church from 20 February 1878 to his death in July 1903. Living until the age of 93, he was the second-old ...
. According to Tromp, the heart, being in so many ways incomparable to the other parts of the body, parallels the fact that no member of the Church can be compared to Mary. The heart, continued Tromp, is
consubstantial
Consubstantiality, a term derived from la, consubstantialitas, denotes identity of substance or essence in spite of difference in aspect.
It appears most commonly in its adjectival form, "consubstantial", from Latin ''consubstantialis'', and ...
with the head and the body, just as Mary's human nature participated with that of Christ and the members of his body. Tromp concluded that because of her motherly love of Christ and of all the members of his body, she deserves to be identified with the heart.
But Roschini was categorically opposed. The heart has influence over the head, and in view of Christ's nature, this is impossible: "After giving him human nature, the Blessed Virgin has no influence whatsoever on Christ as head of the Church". In ''Mystici corporis'', Pius XII avoided this issue, calling Mary simply the "mother" of the mystical body. She was already mother of the head, he wrote, but under the cross she was named mother of all its parts.
He was member founder of the
Pontifical Academy of Mary
The Pontifical Academy of Mary ( la, Pontificia Academia Mariana Internationalis, it, Pontificia accademia mariana internazionale, PAMI) is an international pontifical organization tasked with promoting mariology. The academy is one of the Po ...
.
Selected writings
Tromp published more than 130 books and articles during his lifetime. A selection of Tromp's theological writings—most published in Latin—follows:
;Selected works
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;Selected articles from ''Gregorianum''
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;Works edited
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Notes and references
;Notes
;References
;Sources
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Further reading
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Tromp, Sebastiaan
1889 births
1975 deaths
People from Ubbergen
20th-century Dutch Jesuits
Jesuit theologians
Ecclesiologists
20th-century Dutch Roman Catholic theologians
Pope Pius XII advisers
Systematic theologians
Participants in the Second Vatican Council
Catholic Mariology