Servais Pinckaers, O.P. (1925-2008)

Some very sad news: The brilliant Dominican moral theologian, longtime teacher at Fribourg in Switzerland, honored member of the ITC and formative contributor to the Catechism of the Catholic Church and Veritatis Splendor preparatory commissions, has passed away yesterday. Fr. Richard J. Neuhaus, "A Giant Moves On" (First Things, April 7, 2008) reports:

The news this morning is that Father Servais Pinckaers, O.P., has died after a long period of debilitation. His history of Christian ethics and other writings—and especially his acute distinction between the “freedom of indifference” and the “freedom of excellence”—has had a powerful influence in Christian circles, and not only among Catholics, and certainly not only among Thomists.

American Papist, Mr. Peters, reports that Pinckaers was one of the primary inspirations for his master's thesis ("Spiritual Spontaneity at the Heart of Morality"). He also recommends a decent biography of the great man to be found here, and also: a short Pinckaers CV, an essay of his entitled "The Place Of Philosophy In Moral Theology", a personal note passed on from the dominicans who tended his bedside, and his magnum opus, The Sources of Christian Ethics, as well as a more introductory version of it: Morality: The Catholic View.

[Hat tip to Mr. Tom Peters]