Julien Ries

Cardinal Julien Ries ( born April 19, 1920 in Fouche, today part of Arlon, † February 23, 2013 in Tournai ) was a Catholic Archbishop, Doctor of Theology, orientalist and historian of religion. He is considered the founder of the anthropology of religion. Until his retirement in 1990 he taught the subject "History of Religions" at the Catholic University of Leuven, where he was also the Centre d' Histoire des Religions founded by Namur Suarlee 1970. He was an author, editor and co-editor of approximately 40 relevant books and has over 400 contributions to the history of religion published, including numerous scientific articles on Manichaeism, Gnosticism, comparative religion, and the topic "dialogue of religions and cultures."

Life and career

Julien Ries joined after attending high school in the minor seminary of Bastogne in the seminary of Namur. On December 8, 1945, he received by Bishop André Marie Charue the priesthood. He continued his studies in theology and Oriental Studies at the Catholic University of Louvain, and later Louvain- la -Neuve, continued. There he graduated Licentiate in History and Philosophy and in 1957 received his doctorate for Doctor Theologiae. As a priest of the diocese of Namur, he was first chaplain in Marte Long, professor of religion at the gymnasium of Athus (1950-1959), priest and dean of Messancy (1959-1968) and finally pastor of Suarlée from 1968 to 2000. Thereafter, he served as pastor active in Villers Saint Amand and committed, inter alia, for the Spiritual Family "The Work".

From 1960 taught Julien Ries in Louvain. In 1968 he took over the chair of history of religion and founded the "Center for Religious History ," which he was president. 1975 to 1980 he headed the " Institute of Oriental Studies of Louvain- la -Neuve ". From 1979 to 1985 he was a member of the papal " Secretariat for Non-Christians " (from 1988 Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue ) and 1984-1993 Member of the editorial board of the "Dictionnaire des Religions ". In 1990 he finally became Professor Emeritus at the Catholic University of Leuven. He has participated in numerous international conferences.

Honors

In 1984 he was admitted to the Equestrian Order of the Holy grave in Jerusalem. In 1986, he received the Dumas -Miller Prize of the Académie Française for his scientific oeuvre. In 1987 he was also awarded by the Académie Française to Furtado Prize awarded. 2010, the philosophical honorary doctorate in the field of bioethics, he was awarded by the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart in Milan. Some of his books received other awards, including the United States.

On February 11, 2012 Julien Ries has received by the Apostolic Nuncio to Belgium Archbishop Giacinto Berloco in Villers Saint- Amand episcopal ordination Titular Archbishop of Bellicastrum; Co-consecrators were the bishops Rémy Vancottem and Aloysius Jousten. His motto Caritas Christi urget nos ( " The love of Christ impels us" ) comes from the second letter to the Corinthians (2 Cor 5.14 EU). In solemn consistory of February 18, 2012 it took Benedict XVI. as cardinal deacon with the title Diakonia Sant'Antonio di Padova a circonvallazione Appia in the College of Cardinals. On October 20, 2012 took place the solemn possession of this church.

Work and characteristics

What fascinated Julien Ries, who is compared in its importance for the study of religion Mircea Eliade, with whose ideas he has dealt extensively and is regarded as his heir, the phenomenon of the saint and the anthropology of Homo religiosus as well as the role that the development of human consciousness plays primarily in the discovery of transcendence. Myth and symbol of what he called Homo Symbolicus, rite and structures of religious behavior in this context are for him also essential topics. His interests were wide- but overall very far, also included about the writing of books about the world religions for children. ( The 12 - volume series on religions of mankind, which he had actually published by Jaca Book along with Clément, Olivier and Lawrence Sullivan students received the 2000 Hans Christian Andersen Award for the best series in the field of children's literature ) All of this is reflected among other things, in his extensive private library, which he handed over together with manuscripts, notes, worksheets for courses and scientific correspondence that he had with specialist scholars throughout the world, 2009, the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore (Catholic University of the Sacred Heart ) in Milan, a total of about 8,000 published and unpublished objects now form the there led by the chair of moral philosophy and semiotics Prof. Silvano Petrosino " Julien Ries Archive for symbolic anthropology ".

But best sums up the character of his oeuvre, together with the reasons for the award of the philosophical honorary doctorate in 2010 in Milan, where he is said to have the Dr. phil. H.C. get: " for the intrinsic value of his studies, his tireless work in the field of Cultural Studies, for his decisive contribution he had done his research for the understanding of the phenomenon of religion, particularly regarding the nature of Homo religiosus. " Even the theme of his held to mark the occasion hard talk is typical in this sense, because his theme was: " death, Survival, immortality. Thoughts and religious traditions of the people ".

The Italian priest, anthropologist and Fiorenzo Facchini paleoanthropologist writes in the preface to "Origin of Religions" by Julien Ries about this and its not oriented primarily to evolutionary, anthropological, sociological or purely philosophical- phenomenological foundations methods, such as those in the 19th and early 20th century were common in the absence of pre-and early historical records: "He keeps to the historical, phenomenological and hermeneutic method which, according to Mircea Eliade, the historian of religion may apply, and relies mainly on paleoanthropological, prehistoric and early historical documents and their corresponding interpretations ... Julien Ries shows not only that Homo religiosus already in the oldest forms of man (Homo habilis and Homo erectus ) existed. He also provides us with a masterly picture of the concepts and methods of religious history research and represents the religious experience in the various historical periods with great source of truth and with a coherent interpretation is ... In this work, the author shows his inimitable ability to the reader in the restore the atmosphere of the past. He refers him almost in the religious experience with a ". Mythogramme, symbolic thought and transcendence are at Ries therefore the main factors have been of early man in the development of religious thought, which found its highest expression in Christianity with the encounter between the divine and the human for him.

With the 10 - volume series " Treatise on the anthropology of the Saints ( Treatise on the Anthropology of the Sacred ) ," Julien Ries contributed with about 50 scholars from around the world also crucial to the emergence of the subject anthropology of religion in, in the history of religion, history, Cultural History, Prehistory and paleoanthropology, ethnology and sociology have entered into a close relationship.

Bibliography

At present, the collected works of Julien Ries be published in the Milan publisher Jaca Book. Planned are 11 parts in 18 volumes.

Already published are: ( The part Italian, part French titles are given here in German and provide an additional overview of the entire spectrum of his work. )

• Christians and religions (Part 1, Volume 1, 2007).
• The religious man and his experience of the Holy (Part 3, 2007).
• The man and the sacred in the history of mankind (Part 2, 2007).
• The symbol ( Part 4, Volume 1, 2008).
• Myth and Ritual ( Part 4, Volume 2, 2008).
• The science of religion ( Part 5; 2008).
• Comparative religion History and Hermeneutics of Religions (6th, 2009).
• Meeting and Dialogue (Part 1, Volume 2, 2009).
• The Gnostics. History and doctrine ( Part 9, Volume 1, 2010).

Among his other works:

• The religions of mankind (1999-2001, published in 10 languages).
• The expression of the sacred in the great religions (3 vols, Louvain- la -Neuve, 1978-1986 ).
• Dictionaries of Religions (Paris, 1984, 1993).
• The symbols in the great religions ( ed.) ( 1988/1997, Jaca Book).
• Discoverer of human thought. George Dumézil and Mircea Eliade (2000, Jaca Book).
• The myth. His message and his language through culture (ed.) (2005, Jaca Book).
• The sense of the sacred in the cultures and religions (2006, Jaca Book).
• Looking for God in the way of religious anthropology (2009, Jaca Book).
• About the anthropology of the Saints ( 10 volumes, 1989-2009, Jaca Book).
• Holy Mountain (2010, Jaca Book).

In German language are currently available by Julien Ries:

• Julien Ries: Origin of Religions. Pattloch Verlag, Munich 1994, ISBN 3-629-00078-9.
• Natale Spineto, Fiorenzo Facchini, Julien Ries: The symbols of mankind. Patmos Verlag, Ostfildern 2003, ISBN 3-491-96145-9.
• Julien Ries: Islam. In: The World's Religions. Innsbruck 2004, ISBN 3-7022-2583-8 (recommended by the manufacturer, Age: 12-13 years).
• Julien Ries, Peter Lindenthal: The World's Religions. Buddhism. Tyrolia Verlag, Innsbruck 2004, ISBN 3-7022-2582- X. (also for children and adolescents)
• Julien Ries: The World's Religions. Hinduism. Tyrolia Verlag, Innsbruck 2004, ISBN 3-7022-2610-9. (also for children and adolescents)