Claude Geffré (23 January 1926 – 9 February 2017) was a French Roman Catholic theologian. He became a Professor of Theology at the

Institut Catholique de Paris The Institut catholique de Paris (, abbr. ICP), known in English as the Catholic University of Paris (and in Latin as ''Universitas catholica Parisiensis''), is a private university located in Paris, France. History: 1875–present The Institut ...

in 1965, and he was the director of the

École Biblique École biblique et archéologique française de Jérusalem, commonly known as École Biblique, is a French academic establishment in Jerusalem specializing in archaeology and Biblical exegesis. It is housed by the Saint-Étienne priory. Associate ...

in Jerusalem from 1996 to 1999. He was an expert on

Biblical hermeneutics Biblical hermeneutics is the study of the principles of interpretation concerning the books of the Bible. It is part of the broader field of hermeneutics, which involves the study of principles of interpretation, both theory and methodology, fo ...

and

pluralism Pluralism in general denotes a diversity of views or stands, rather than a single approach or method. Pluralism or pluralist may refer more specifically to: Politics and law * Pluralism (political philosophy), the acknowledgement of a diversi ...

, and the author of several books.

Early life

Claude Geffré was born on 23 January 1926 in

Niort Niort (; Poitevin: ''Niàu''; ; ) is a commune in the Deux-Sèvres department, western France. It is the prefecture of Deux-Sèvres. The population of Niort is 58,707 (2017) and more than 177,000 people live in the urban area. Geography T ...

, Western France. He earned a doctorate in theology from the

Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas The Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas (PUST), also known as the ''Angelicum'' or ''Collegio Angelico'' (in honor of its patron, the ''Doctor Angelicus'' Thomas Aquinas), is a pontifical university located in the historic center of R ...

Career

Geffré started his teaching career at Saulchoir. In 1965, he became a professor of theology at the

. He served as the director of the

in Jerusalem from 1996 to 1999. Geffré was an expert in

and

. In 1977, he was the co-founder of the Groupe de recherches islamo-chrétien (GRIC), a research centre for Christian-Muslim Studies. He was the author of several books about Christianity. Some of his books, like ''Le christianisme comme religion de l'Evangile'', were dismissed as "relativistic" by some critics. Geffré became a Knight of the

Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and Civil society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...

in 1998.

Death

Geffré died on 9 February 2017 in Paris, at the age of 91. His funeral will be held at the

Couvent des Jacobins de la rue Saint-Jacques The Couvent Saint-Jacques, Grand couvent des Jacobins or Couvent des Jacobins de la rue Saint-Jacques was a Dominican monastery on rue Saint-Jacques in Paris, France. Its complex was between what are now rue Soufflot and rue Cujas. Its teaching ...

on 13 February 2017 and he will be buried in Étiolles,

Essonne Essonne () is a department in the southern part of the Île-de-France region in Northern France. It is named after the river Essonne. In 2019, it had a population of 1,301,659, across 194 communes.

Works

* * * * * * * * *

References

1926 births 2017 deaths People from Niort Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas alumni French Roman Catholic writers Academic staff of the Catholic University of Paris French Dominicans Knights of the Ordre national du Mérite Knights of the Legion of Honour {{France-RC-clergy-stub