Catholic Church, history and Thomism at the beginning of the 20th century: mediaevalists and the birth of ?nouvelle théologie?

Abstract

The article´s concern is the role of Catholic historians, esp. The medievalists in the renewal of theological studies that included as well the birth of so called ?nouvelle théologie? and that contributed essentially to the transformation of the Church during the Vatican Council II (1962-1965).

Catholic study of church history as a whole at the turn of 20 th century was neither dead nor inferior but it faced three important tasks. The first was carry through the autonomy of the church history inside the Church as a critical scientific discipline on its own that cannot excuse from the given criteria; the second the overcome the apologetic tendency to cover up inconvenient facts or to defend them; and the third, to apply the historic approach to the study of Catholic theological, dogmatic and spiritual tradition.

The article shows some portraits of this strugle upon the example of several church historiens as Fr. Pierre Mandonnet OP, Mgr.

Luis Duchesne, Hippolyte Delehay SI. Clearly the most important contribution of Mandonnet has been application of the historical method to the work, life and teaching of St.

Thomas Aquinas. In the Dominican theological school, le Saulchoir, was created a separate faculty of medieval studies with greatest Mandonnet´s disciple, Fr.

Marie-Dominique Chenu. The application of the historical-critical method to the theological study constitutes a key element of the ?nouvelle thélogie?, that prepared and influenced the Council Vatican II.

So the medieval studies affected directly and in a positive way lives of more than a billion Catholics.