{{Short description|German Jesuit priest and theologian}} {{more citations needed|date=May 2014}} {{Use dmy dates|date=July 2022}} {{Infobox Christian leader | type = Cardinal | honorific-prefix = [[His Eminence]] | name = Aloys Grillmeier | honorific-suffix = [[Society of Jesus|SJ]] | title = [[Cardinal Deacon]] of [[San Nicola in Carcere]] | image = Coat of arms of Alois Grillmeier.svg | caption = | province = | diocese = | see = | enthroned = 26 November 1994 | ended = 13 September 1998 | predecessor = [[Patrick O'Boyle (American bishop)|Patrick O'Boyle]] | successor = [[Zenon Grocholewski]] | ordination = 24 June 1934 | consecration = | cardinal = 26 November 1994 | rank = Cardinal Deacon | other_post = | birth_name = | birth_date = {{birth date|df=yes|1910|1|1}} | birth_place = [[Pechbrunn]], [[Kingdom of Bavaria]], [[German Empire]] | death_date = {{death date and age|df=yes|1998|9|13|1910|1|1}} | death_place =[[Unterhaching]], [[Bavaria]], Germany | buried = [[Pullach im Isartal]], Bavaria, Germany | nationality = German | occupation = | profession = [[Theologian]] | alma_mater = | signature = | coat_of_arms = }} '''Aloys Grillmeier''' {{post-nominals|post-noms=[[Society of Jesus|SJ]]}} (1 January 1910 – 13 September 1998) was a German [[Jesuit]] priest, theologian and [[cardinal-deacon]] of the Catholic Church. Pope John Paul II created him cardinal-deacon of [[San Nicola in Carcere]] on 26 November 1994.<ref>{{Catholic-hierarchy|bishop|bgril|Alois Cardinal Grillmeier, S.J.|21 January 2015}}</ref>
== Life == Aloys (in German: ''Alois'') Grillmeier was born in [[Pechbrunn]] in the [[Kingdom of Bavaria]] in 1910 to Joseph Grillmeier and Maria Weidner. He entered the Jesuit Order in April 1929 after completing grammar school in [[Regensburg]]. He studied philosophy in Munich and theology in [[Valkenburg aan de Geul|Valkenburg]] in the Netherlands. He was ordained priest on 24 June 1937 in the middle of further theological studies in [[Frankfurt am Main]]. After studying in Rome, he gained his doctorate in February 1942 from the [[University of Freiburg]].
Two days after the graduation ceremony Grillmeier was conscripted into the German army and trained as a medical orderly in [[Ulm]]. He was then sent to the [[Eastern Front (World War II)|Eastern Front]] where he treated the casualties of the bitter fighting against Soviet forces. He was released from further military service in April 1944 as a member of the Jesuits. Grillmeier then began a long teaching career in fundamental and dogmatic theology, most of which was spent as Professor of Dogmatics at the [[Sankt Georgen Graduate School of Philosophy and Theology]] (Frankfurt am Main), where the German Jesuits received their theological education.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/obituary-cardinal-alois-grillmeier-1176420.html | work=The Independent | location=London | title=Obituary: Cardinal Alois Grillmeier | first=Felix | last=Corley | date=6 October 1998 | accessdate=23 April 2010}}</ref>
Grillmeier became known at the [[Second Vatican Council]], where he acted as theological adviser to Bishop [[Wilhelm Kempf (bishop)|Wilhelm Kempf]] of [[Roman Catholic Diocese of Limburg|Limburg]]. From 1963 to 1965 he was also on the theology commission of the Council itself. He had a particular input into the drafting of the document ''[[Lumen gentium]]'', the Dogmatic Constitution on the Church. It was here that he first met [[Pope John Paul II|Cardinal Wojtyła]] and worked with him in writing various works, papers and documents including ''"[[Gaudium et spes]]"'', ''"[[Lumen gentium]]"'', ''"[[Dei verbum]]"'' and ''"[[Dignitatis humanae]]"''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.dailycatholic.org/issue/archives/1999May/88may5,vol.10,no.88txt/may5col.htm|title = May 5, 1999 COLLEGE OF CARDINALS COLLECTION: (May5col.HTM)}}</ref> He retired in 1978 on his 68th birthday, but continued to write and lecture.
Grillmeier died on 13 September 1998 in [[Unterhaching]], Bavaria, Germany.
== Legacy == Grillmeier was committed to [[ecumenism]]. In the 1970s he became an adviser to the [[Pro Oriente Institute]] in Vienna, which promoted contact with other Christian Churches, especially in the East, and he took part in several unofficial theological dialogues with the [[Oriental Orthodox Church]]es and was a member of the official dialogue commission Coptic Orthodox – Roman Catholic.
== Bibliography ==
Grillmeier's written output – 12 major books and several hundred academic articles – is a part of his legacy. His magnum opus ''"Christ in Christian Tradition"'' looked at the development of Christology from early Christian times to the ninth century, drawing particularly on the traditions of the Eastern Christian Church. Volume one was published in 1965 (with a revised version in 1975) and volume two in 1987. In a rare event, the work was published in English before the original German. Grillmeier published expanded versions of the second volume in the 1990s in collaboration with Theresia Hainthaler.
=== Books === * English editions: Christ in Christian Tradition, Volume 1: ** {{Cite book|last=Grillmeier|first=Aloys|author-link=Aloys Grillmeier|title=Christ in Christian Tradition: From the Apostolic Age to Chalcedon (451)|volume=1|year=1965|edition=1st|location=London|publisher=Mowbray|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IdcPAQAAIAAJ}} ** {{Cite book|last=Grillmeier|first=Aloys|author-link=Aloys Grillmeier|title=Christ in Christian Tradition: From the Apostolic Age to Chalcedon (451)|volume=1|year=1975|orig-year=1965|edition=2nd revised|location=Atlanta|publisher=John Knox Press|isbn=9780664223014|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LH-cBwmmY2cC}} * Volume 2, From the Council of Chalcedon (451) to Gregory the Great (590-604): ** {{Cite book|last=Grillmeier|first=Aloys|author-link=Aloys Grillmeier|title=Christ in Christian Tradition: Reception and Contradiction: The Development of the Discussion about Chalcedon from 451 to the Beginning of the reign of Justinian|volume=2/1|year=1987|location=Atlanta|publisher=John Knox Press|isbn=9780664221607|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oNozt34P_PcC}} ** {{Cite book|last1=Grillmeier|first1=Aloys|author-link1=Aloys Grillmeier|last2=Hainthaler|first2=Theresia|title=Christ in Christian Tradition: The Church of Constantinople in the Sixth Century|volume=2/2|year=1995|location=Louisville|publisher=Westminster John Knox Press|isbn=9780664219970|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=B26SY7PIaKEC}} ** {{Cite book|last1=Grillmeier|first1=Aloys|author-link1=Aloys Grillmeier|last2=Hainthaler|first2=Theresia|title=Christ in Christian Tradition: The Churches of Jerusalem and Antioch from 451 to 600|volume=2/3|year=2013|location=Oxford|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=9780199212880|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lokeAAAAQBAJ}} ** {{Cite book|last1=Grillmeier|first1=Aloys|author-link1=Aloys Grillmeier|last2=Hainthaler|first2=Theresia|title=Christ in Christian Tradition: The Church of Alexandria with Nubia and Ethiopia after 451|volume=2/4|year=1996|location=Louisville|publisher=Westminster John Knox Press|isbn=9780664223007|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-Hw28f8aCnoC}}
== References == {{reflist}}
== Sources == * Obituary on Aloys Grillmeier, in "The Independent" https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/obituary-cardinal-alois-grillmeier-1176420.html * [http://www.dailycatholic.org/issue/archives/1999May/88may5,vol.10,no.88txt/may5col.htm College of Cardinal Collection] * Catholic Hierarchy.com: [http://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/bishop/bgril.html "Aloys Grillmeier"] * [https://www.sankt-georgen.de/lehrstuehlelehrende/verstorbene-mitglieder-des-lehrkoerpers/alois-kardinal-grillmeier-sj/ Bibliography of Aloys Grillmeier]
{{Catholicism||collapsed}} {{History of the Roman Catholic Church|collapsed}} {{History of Catholic theology|collapsed}} {{Cardinals created by John Paul II}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Grillmeier, Aloys}} [[Category:1910 births]] [[Category:1998 deaths]] [[Category:People from Tirschenreuth (district)]] [[Category:20th-century German Jesuits]] [[Category:Systematic theologians]] [[Category:20th-century German Catholic theologians]] [[Category:Participants in the Second Vatican Council]] [[Category:Jesuit cardinals]] [[Category:Cardinals created by Pope John Paul II]] [[Category:German Army personnel of World War II]] [[Category:German male non-fiction writers]] [[Category:20th-century German male writers]]