Hanna-Barbara Gerl-Falkovitz Explained

Birth Date:23 November 1945
Birth Place:Oberwappenöst, Tirschenreuth, Germany
Occupation:Catholic philosopher
Employer:Pope Benedict XVI Philosophical-Theological University
Spouse:Hans-Bernhard Wuermeling (1995–2019; his death)

Hanna-Barbara Gerl-Falkovitz (born 23 November 1945) is a German Catholic philosopher and author. She studies Catholic religious philosophy of the 19th and 20th centuries.

Biography

Education

Gerl-Falkovitz studied philosophy, German Studies, and political science at the universities of Munich and Heidelberg from 1965 to 1971; she earned her doctorate from the University of Munich in 1971.[1] In an interview in 2021, she said of this formative period in her life, "The theology of the 1960s, when I was studying in Munich, was not attractive for me: too much historical criticism, also in methodology, too much existentialism." By contrast, she explained, "In philosophy I learned to see the structures and objective orders of thinking and of the world, the contradictions of atheism, the senselessness of denying the truth. Also, the deep meaning of the objective world, that is much more than a construction of the human mind."[2]

While she was the Director of Studies at Burg Rothenfels am Main from 1975 to 1984, she earned her habilitation from the University of Munich in 1979, submitting a monograph on the theologian Romano Guardini.[3]

Career

From 1993 to 2011, she held the chair for Religious Philosophy and Comparative Religious Studies at the Technical University of Dresden.[4] She gained considerable popularity at a university struggling with its Communist past by offering courses and lectures on Christian notions of reconciliation and forgiveness.[5]

Since 2011, she has been Director of the European Institute for Philosophy and Religion (EUPHRat) at the Pope Benedict XVI Philosophical-Theological University in Heiligenkreuz, Austria.[6]

She is one of the editors of the 29-volume German edition of the collected works Romano Guardini and one of the editors of the 27-volume German edition of the collected works of Edith Stein (Edith Stein Gesamtausgabe, Verlag Herder). She is widely considered to be an expert on Ida Friederike Görres, and is the founder and vice president of the Gertrud von le Fort Society.[7]

She was a delegate to the Synodal Way process of the Catholic Church in Germany. On February 22, 2023 – Ash Wednesday – she and three others resigned as delegates. In a statement, the four expressed concern about the "direction and the conduct" of the Synodal Way and they said that it was “casting doubt on central Catholic doctrines and beliefs.”[8]

Interviews with Gerl-Falkovitz appear frequently in German-language media; she is a frequent public speaker.

Personal life

Hanna-Barbara Gerl-Falkovitz was married to Hans-Bernhard Wuermeling, a coroner, from 1995 until his death in 2019.[9]

Views

In her writings and numerous public appearances, Gerl-Falkovitz has often defended traditional Catholic teaching on marriage.[10] She is opposed to abortion and has studied the philosophical background of the mentality that favors contraception and abortion.[11]

In 2019, Gerl-Falkovitz was one of over 200 professors worldwide who signed an open letter to the leaders of the Pontifical John Paul II Institute expressing "great concern" following the removal of Livio Melina and José Noriega from the Institute.[12]

She supports the Catholic teaching that ordination to the priesthood is for men only.[13] In 2022, she criticized the German Synodal Way's call for women's ordination.[14]

Awards

Gerl-Falkovitz has received many awards for her work, including:

Works

Selected works on Catholic figures and theological topics

Volumes by Ida Friederike Görres, edited by Gerl-Falkovitz

Gerl-Falkovitz in English translation

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: em. Univ.-Prof. DDr. Hanna-Barbara Gerl-Falkovitz . 29 July 2022 . Hochschule Heiligenkreuz . en-US.
  2. News: 2021 Ratzinger Prize Laureate: 'The Sexual Revolution Left Behind a Deep Track of Destructions' . 30 July 2022 . NCR . en.
  3. Web site: em. Univ.-Prof. DDr. Hanna-Barbara Gerl-Falkovitz . 29 July 2022 . Hochschule Heiligenkreuz . en-US.
  4. Web site: Tagespost . Die . 20 April 2021 . Die Tagespost . 30 July 2022 . die-tagespost.de . de-DE.
  5. Web site: Vom Geist der Versöhnung . 3 October 2022 . exmatrikulationsamt.de . de.
  6. Web site: Germany . Kirche und Leben, Münster . Philosophin Gerl-Falkovitz erhält Josef-Pieper-Preis . 30 July 2022 . www.kirche-und-leben.de . 31 October 2019 . de-DE.
  7. Web site: 12 November 2021 . Über Uns Gertrud von le Fort . 30 July 2022 . de-DE.
  8. News: AC . Wimmer . February 22, 2023 . Four women opt out of German Synodal Way, saying it 'departs from the universal Church' . Catholic News Agency . February 23, 2023.
  9. Web site: 1 July 2019 . Hans-Bernhard Wuermeling Freundeskreis Mooshausen . 30 July 2022 . de-DE.
  10. Web site: Tagespost . Die . 24 May 2022 . Die Tagespost . 30 July 2022 . die-tagespost.de . de-DE.
  11. Web site: Tagespost . Die . 15 November 2010 . Die Tagespost . 30 July 2022 . die-tagespost.de . de-DE.
  12. Web site: Scholars Worldwide Sign Open Letter About JPII Institute Changes . 29 July 2022 . NCR . 30 August 2019 . en.
  13. Web site: 31 December 2021 . Kommentar zum Jahresschluss: Von Hanna-Barbara Gerl-Falkovitz – Vatican News . 30 July 2022 . www.vaticannews.va . de.
  14. Web site: Schoenle . Bryant . 5 February 2022 . German 'Synodal Way' Members Back Text Calling For Women Priests . 30 July 2022 . Ave Maria Radio . en-US.
  15. Web site: Germany . Kirche und Leben, Münster . Philosophin Gerl-Falkovitz erhält Josef-Pieper-Preis . 29 July 2022 . www.kirche-und-leben.de . 31 October 2019 . de-DE.
  16. Web site: Prize . 29 July 2022 . Towarzystwo im. Edyty Stein . en-GB.
  17. Web site: Religionsphilosophin Gerl-Falkovitz erhält Augustin-Bea-Preis . 29 July 2022 . www.kathpress.at . en.
  18. Web site: 2021 Ratzinger Prize Laureate: 'The Sexual Revolution Left Behind a Deep Track of Destructions' . 29 July 2022 . NCR . 24 November 2021 . en.

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