Fr. Louis Bouyer, rest in peace

Fr. Louis Bouyer, a Lutheran convert to the Catholic Faith who subsequently became one of the leading Catholic theologians and liturgical scholars, died on October 22, 2004. A friend of Swiss theologian Hans Urs von Balthasar, Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger and J.R.R. Tolkien, and a co-founder of the international review Communio, Bouyer converted to Catholicism in 1939. His book, The Spirit and Forms of Protestantism, is an apologia for his conversion that has influenced many a subsequent convert to Rome. Specifically, he argues that many of the positive elements in Protestantism, such as the call for a personal converstion to Christ, can only hope to survive and flourish in the long run if rooted in the living organism of the Catholic Church. Though he is best known for his excellent writings on the history of Christian spirituality, he also became a leading figure in the Catholic Biblical and Liturgical movements of the twentieth century and was involved in the proceedings of the Second Vatican Council (pictured right). In fact, he was a member of the Concilium commissioned by Pope Paul VI and organized under the leadership of Cardinal Annibale Bugnini to write the blueprint for the liturgical reforms of Vatican II. Bouyer, who was initially enthused about the prospect of liturgical renewal, became rapidly jaded between 1964 and 1968 when it became clear that Bugnini was railroading through his own radical implementation of the Vatican II reforms that Msgr. Klaus Gamber and Cardinal Ratzinger would later describe as a "rupture" with tradition. Bouyer published his own account of the matter the following year in The Decomposition of Catholicism (1969). [For several excerpts from Bouyer on this issue, click here.]

I first heard about Bouyer back in the late 1980s when I was just beginning to consider the prospect of converting myself. I don't remember if was in a phone conversation with Scott Hahn or in an essay by someone like Tom Howard, but I got a copy of his The Spirit and Forms of Protestantism from the library and read it through. Despite the less-than-perfect English translation, I was impressed by the appreciation he had for his Protestant past, particularly in his detailed review of features in Luthernism, Calvinism, and Methodism that no Catholic could deny were positive. In fact, the whole first half of the book seemed to reaffirm the major positive insights and contributions of Protestantism. There was note of the hostility towards one's former position that one typically finds in converts. But then, in the second half of the book, Bouyer gently but firmly goes on to show where each of these Protestant traditions goes wrong in hiving off to try and start something new, when the Church cannot be erased and started over again, like the French Revolution tried to start history over again by declaring the calendar year one! Needless to say, Bouyer's book had a profound impact, and I would recommend it highly, perhaps especially for Lutherans, since Bouyer was a Lutheran.

Some years ago the Aquinas-Luther Conference at Lenoir-Rhyne College was devoted to the subject of liturgy, and I remember trying to see if we could get Fr. Bouyer to come and speak at the conference. He would have been ideal, given his Lutheran background and Catholic affiliation. I remember contacting a Catholic nun I had met at a conference on Cardinal Newman's work in Rensselaer, Indiana, who personally knew Bouyer, but she said that he was in his mid-eighties then and would likely not be permitted by his physician to make the trans-Atlantic flight even if he were personally willing to undertake the project.

In any case Bouyer's passing seems to have passed almost unnoticed so far. Perhaps he would have wanted it that way. Like Cardinal Newman, he was a quiet Oratorian, a member of the French Congregation of the Oratory founded by Cardinal Pierre de Berulle in the 17th century and patterned after the original 16th century Oratory of St. Philip Neri. After the Second Vatican Council, he seemed almost to fade away. One thinks of the words of General Douglas MacArthur: "old soldiers never die, they just fade away." But certainly he deserves a flood of tributes. Requiescat in Pace, Father Bouyer, and thank you for all your wonderful gifts!!!

The following are a few of Fr. Louis Bouyer's writings. These are highly recommended for those who wish to better their understanding of Catholic-Protestant relations, as well as the Church's liturgical and spiritual traditions:

• The Spirit and Forms of Protestantism, trans. by A.V. Littledale (Westminster, MD: Newman Press, 1956; rpt. New York: Scepter Publishers, 2001)
• Liturgical Piety (Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press, 1965)
• Eucharist: Theology and Spirituality of the Eucharist (Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press, 1968)
• The Decomposition of Catholicism (Chicago: Franciscan Herald Press, 1969)
• Newman's Vision of Faith: A Theology for Times of General Apostasy (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1986)
• The Christian Mystery: From Pagan Myth to Christian Mysticism, trans. by Illtyd Trethowan (Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1989; rpt. 1990; rpt. Petersham, Mass.: St. Bebe's Publications, 1995)
• Invisible Father: Approaches to the Mystery of Divinity, trans. by Hugh Gilbert (Petersham, Mass.: St. Bede's Publicatins, 1999)
• Other books by Louis Bouyer on Amazon.com:

Other writings by and about Louis Bouyer on the web: (courtesy of Christopher Blosser:

• "Orthodox & Catholics", excerpt from The Church of God. [courtesy of Gerard Serafin's PraiseofGlory.com]
• Why Only Catholicism Can Make Protestantism Work: Louis Bouyer on the Reformation, by Mark Brumley. Catholic Dossier 7 no. 5 (September-October 2001): 30-35.
• The Church and the Jewish People, Inside The Vatican April 2000.
• "'The Roman Socrates': St. Philip Neri," taken from "The Dawson Newsletter," Spring 1995.