Hanna-Barbara Gerl-Falkovitz | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | 23 November 1945 Oberwappenöst, Tirschenreuth, Germany |
| Alma mater | |
| Occupation | Catholic philosopher |
| Employer | Pope Benedict XVI Philosophical-Theological University |
| Spouse | Hans-Bernhard Wuermeling (1995–2019; his death) |
| Awards | |
Hanna-Barbara Gerl-Falkovitz (born 23 November 1945) is a German Catholic philosopher and author. She studies Catholic religious philosophy of the 19th and 20th centuries.
Gerl-Falkovitz studied philosophy, German Studies, and political science at the universities of Munich and Heidelberg from 1965 to 1971; she earned her doctorate from the University of Munich in 1971. [1] In an interview in 2021, she said of this formative period in her life, "The theology of the 1960s, when I was studying in Munich, was not attractive for me: too much historical criticism, also in methodology, too much existentialism." By contrast, she explained, "In philosophy I learned to see the structures and objective orders of thinking and of the world, the contradictions of atheism, the senselessness of denying the truth. Also, the deep meaning of the objective world, that is much more than a construction of the human mind." [2]
While she was the Director of Studies at Burg Rothenfels am Main from 1975 to 1984, she earned her habilitation from the University of Munich in 1979, submitting a monograph on the theologian Romano Guardini. [3]
From 1993 to 2011, she held the chair for Religious Philosophy and Comparative Religious Studies at the Technical University of Dresden. [4] She gained considerable popularity at a university struggling with its Communist past by offering courses and lectures on Christian notions of reconciliation and forgiveness. [5]
Since 2011, she has been Director of the European Institute for Philosophy and Religion (EUPHRat) at the Pope Benedict XVI Philosophical-Theological University in Heiligenkreuz, Austria. [6]
She is one of the editors of the 29-volume German edition of the collected works Romano Guardini and one of the editors of the 27-volume German edition of the collected works of Edith Stein (Edith Stein Gesamtausgabe, Verlag Herder). She is widely considered to be an expert on Ida Friederike Görres, [7] and is the founder and vice president of the Gertrud von le Fort Society. [8]
She was a delegate to the Synodal Way process of the Catholic Church in Germany. On February 22, 2023 – Ash Wednesday – she and three others resigned as delegates. In a statement, the four expressed concern about the "direction and the conduct" of the Synodal Way and they said that it was “casting doubt on central Catholic doctrines and beliefs.” [9]
Interviews with Gerl-Falkovitz appear frequently in German-language media; she is a frequent public speaker.
Hanna-Barbara Gerl-Falkovitz was married to Hans-Bernhard Wuermeling, a coroner, from 1995 until his death in 2019. [10]
In her writings and numerous public appearances, Gerl-Falkovitz has often defended traditional Catholic teaching on marriage. [11] She is opposed to abortion and has studied the philosophical background of the mentality that favors contraception and abortion. [12]
In 2019, Gerl-Falkovitz was one of over 200 professors worldwide who signed an open letter to the leaders of the Pontifical John Paul II Institute expressing "great concern" following the removal of Livio Melina and José Noriega from the Institute. [13]
She supports the Catholic teaching that ordination to the priesthood is for men only. [14] In 2022, she criticized the German Synodal Way's call for women's ordination. [15]
Gerl-Falkovitz has received many awards for her work, including:
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Edith Stein was a German Jewish philosopher who converted to Catholicism and became a Discalced Carmelite nun. She is canonized as a martyr and saint of the Catholic Church; she is also one of six patron saints of Europe.
Johann Joseph Görres, since 1839 von Görres, was a German writer, philosopher, theologian, historian and journalist.
Walter Kasper is a German Catholic cardinal and theologian. He is President Emeritus of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, having served as its president from 2001 to 2010.
Romano Guardini was an Italian, naturalized German Catholic priest, philosopher and theologian.
Leo Scheffczyk was a German cardinal and theologian. He was a long-time theologian at the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and one of the strongest advocates for orthodoxy during the long pontificate of John Paul II. During the 1980s and 1990s, he severely criticized some of his former students, e.g. Leonardo Boff, who advocated a Marxist version of liberation theology. Scheffczyk likely played a major role in drafting the most controversial documents, such as Ordinatio sacerdotalis and Ad tuendam fidem. He was made a cardinal in 2001. He was regarded as an important thinker in late twentieth-century Catholicism.
The Ratzinger Foundation, also known as The Pope Benedict XVI Foundation, is a charitable organization whose aim is "the promotion of theology in the spirit of Joseph Ratzinger." which it achieves by funding scholarships and bursaries for poorer students across the world. The foundation was launched on the initiative of former students of Joseph Ratzinger in December 2007.
Ida Friederike Görres, born Elisabeth Friederike, Reichsgräfin von Coudenhove-Kalergi, was a Catholic writer. From the Coudenhove-Kalergi family, she was the daughter, one of seven children, of Count Heinrich von Coudenhove-Kalergi and his Japanese wife Mitsuko Aoyama.
The Hidden Face is a biography of Saint Thérèse of Lisieux by the Catholic author Ida Friederike Görres. Görres first published this book in German in 1944 as Das Verborgene Antlitz; in the eighth edition in German in 1958, it was renamed Das Senfkorn von Lisieux: Das verborgene Antlitz. Neue Deutung in German. An English version, translated by Richard and Clara Winston, was published in 1959; this was republished by Ignatius Press in 2003. The Hidden Face is considered to be Görres's most important work.
Jennifer S. Bryson is a Fellow in the Catholic Women's Forum of the Ethics and Public Policy Center. She previously worked at the Witherspoon Institute. She is also a professional translator, specializing in the works of the twentieth-century German writer Ida Friedericke Görres. She founded Let All Play, an organization that advocates the depoliticization of professional sports by targeting rainbow flags on uniforms. Bryson has a Ph.D. in Arabic and Islamic studies, from the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations at Yale University. From 2004 to 2006, she served as an interrogator at the Guantanamo Bay detention camps and has since become an outspoken supporter of humane, rapport-building interrogation, and an opponent of the use of torture. She is an adult convert to Catholicism.
Ralf van Bühren is a German art historian, architectural historian, church historian, and theologian. He is professor of art history at the School of Church Communications at the Pontifical University of Santa Croce in Rome, and also lecturing at the Pontificia Università Gregoriana. His courses on Sacred Art and Architecture in Rome are open to students of US universities with campus in Rome.
Christian Schaller is a German Roman Catholic theologian from Munich. In June 2013, he was co-recipient, with Richard A. Burridge, of the Ratzinger Prize.
Barbara Stühlmeyer OblOSB is a German theologian, musicologist, author, especially a Hildegard scholar and a science journalism.
Philipp Harnoncourt or Philipp Graf de la Fontaine und d'Harnoncourt-Unverzagt was an Austrian theologian, priest and musician. Born into a noble family, he grew up in Graz and decided to become a priest at age 17. He studied in Graz and Munich. In 1963 he founded a department of church music at the later Kunstuniversität Graz. He was appointed professor at the University of Graz in 1972 and was head of the institute of liturgics, Christian art and hymnology until his retirement in 1999.
Stefan Heid is a German Catholic priest, church historian and Christian archaeologist. Since 2020 he is rector of the Pontifical Institute of Christian Archeology. Heid is also since 2011 director of the Roman Institute of the Görres-Society.
Peter Seewald is a German journalist and author with a focus on religious topics, especially on Pope Benedict XVI.
Bernardin Schellenberger is a German Catholic theologian, priest and former Trappist. He has worked as a writer and translator, focused on spiritual topics and the monastic tradition.
Maria Birgitta zu Münster, OSB : née Ursula zu Münster, was a Catholic convert, Benedictine nun, and translator.
Be&Be is an Austrian Catholic publishing house based on the campus of the Benedict XVI Philosophical-Theological University in Heiligenkreuz, Lower Austria. Its publishing activity is mainly focused on the publication of books and magazines in the German language.
The Burden of Belief is a book by the Catholic author Ida Friederike Görres about the challenges of Christian faith in the modern era. The book was first published in German in 1932 as Von der Last Gottes: Ein Gespräch über den Menschen und den Christen under the author's maiden name, Coudenhove. It was translated into English in 1934. The British Dominican priest, Gerald Vann, wrote the introduction to the English edition. It was also translated into French and Dutch.
The Nature of Sanctity: A Dialogue by the Catholic author Ida Friederike Coudenhove is a book about holiness and what it means to be a saint. It explores this topic through the lens of the life of St. Elizabeth of Hungary. Coudenhove is more well known today by her married name, Ida Friederike Görres.
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