Pierre-Marie Théas
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Pierre-Marie Théas (September 14, 1894 – April 3, 1977) was a French
Biography
Pierre-Marie Théas was born on September 14, 1894, in
In 1940 he was present at the last days of the former Spanish president Manuel Azaña, and offered support to his widow.[citation needed]
Resistance to Nazism
When the
The protest of the bishops is seen by various historians as a turning point in the formerly passive response of the Catholic Church in France. Marie-Rose Gineste transported a pastoral letter from Bishop Théas of Montauban by bicycle to forty parishes, denouncing the uprooting of men and women "treated as wild animals", and the French Resistance smuggled the text to London, where it was broadcast to France by the Radio Londres service of the BBC, reaching tens of thousands of homes.[2]
Théas continued to oppose the Nazi policies culminating in a fiery sermon in his cathedral in 1944 in which he condemned the "Cruel and inhuman treatment of one of our fellow men". He was arrested the night after the sermon by the Gestapo. He was sent to a
Post-war
After the war, in March 1945, he became the first president of the movement for reconciliation and peace named Pax Christi.[3] The group, initiated by Marthe Dortel Chaudot, aimed at first mainly at the reconciliation between France and Germany, but in 1952 it was recognized by Pope Pius XII as an official Catholic Peace Movement.
On February 17, 1947, he was appointed the
He was noted for his belief in
- "Urged on by unrestrainable forces, today's world asks for a revolution. The revolution must succeed, but it can succeed only if the Church enters the fray, bringing the Gospel. After being liberated from Nazi dictatorship, we want to liberate the working class from capitalist slavery."
He died on April 3, 1977.
Apparition of Espis
Espis is a hamlet, north of Moissac (France) in the department of Tarn-et-Garonne in the diocese of Montauban. In this place there were three children - and soon after a 40-year-old man - who claimed to have seen the Virgin Mary in 1946. On May 4, 1947, the bishop promulgated his negative judgment official, threatening to suspend "a divinis" any priest who celebrated Mass in Espis. In this condemnation, the little Gilles Bouhours (he too was a marian seer) will also be involved, although he was not named in the decree of Pierre-Marie Théas. Indeed the official sentence of Pierre-Marie Théas against the 4 alleged visionaries of Espis dated back to May 4, 1947, while Gilles himself did not visit Espis until October 13 of that year, therefore the bishop's decision on the authenticity of the alleged apparitions, did not in any way concern the apparitions of Gilles.[6]
Works
- Ce Que Croyait Bernadette (The Faith of Bernadette)
- Ce Que Croyait Le Vierge Marie (The Faith of the Virgin Mary).
- Only Through These Hands translated into English by Geraldine Carrigan[7]
References
- ^ The Catholic Hierarchy in France during the War and the Persecution of the Jews, by Renée Bédarida, at Yad Vashem website
- ISBN 0385 60100X; p.230
- ^ a b "Pax Christi International History Timeline 1945 - 2015 - Pax Christi". www.paxchristi.net. Retrieved 11 January 2018.
- ^ "Bishop Pierre-Marie Théas". Catholic-Hierarchy.org. David M. Cheney. Retrieved 21 January 2015.
- ^ Ninian, M. M. "Christian Communism".[self-published source]
- ^ "Little Gilles Bouhours -The 5 year old who delivered a heavenly message to the Pope". Retrieved 2023-08-15.
- ^ "American Catholic Pamphlets and Parish Histories Database".
External links
- Pierre-Marie Théas – his activity to save Jews' lives during the Holocaust, at Yad Vashemwebsite