Peter Fehlner Explained

Type:	Priest
Peter Damian Fehlner O.F.M. Conv.
Ordination:	July 14, 1957
Birth Date:	20 July 1931
Birth Place:	Dolgeville, New York, United States
Death Place:	Chicopee, Massachusetts, United States

Peter Fehlner (July 20, 1931 – May 8, 2018), also known as Peter Damian Mary Fehlner, was a Catholic priest, theologian, and Mariologist. He was a member of the Roman Catholic Order of Friars Minor Conventual. After his Franciscan and theological formation and several decades of ministry in this Order, he joined the Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate in 1996,^[1] but in 2016 he professed again the Rule and the Constitutions of ancient Franciscan Conventual Order.^[2] From 2008-2014, he served as rector of the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe in La Crosse, Wisconsin.^[3] He was also a professor of theology in the Franciscans' Institute of Ecclesiastical Studies, the Immaculatum (STIM) in Frigento, Italy. A scholar in the Franciscan tradition of theology, he focused primarily on the philosophical and theological traditions of St. Bonaventure, Bl. John Duns Scotus^[4] and St. Maximilian Kolbe.

Early life, education and ordination

Fehlner was born on July 20, 1931, in Dolgeville, New York. He was ordained in Rome on July 14, 1957. He completed a Doctorate in Sacred Theology at the Seraphicum, with a thesis about the Ecclesiology of St. Bonaventure. Fehlner died on May 8, 2018, in Chicopee, Massachusetts.^{[5] [6]}

Theological career

Fehlner taught dogmatic theology and Mariology in Franciscan seminaries and universities in the United States and in Italy for 40 years. He is the author of several books and contributed to theological and pastoral journals in the United States and Europe.^{[7] [8]} From 1985 to 1989 he was the editor of Militia Immaculatae (Rome), a Marian review for the clergy. He wrote and lectured extensively on Franciscan theology and Mariology. His series on Our Lady "Mater et Magistra" has been featured weekly on Mother Angelica's EWTN.

He served as North American Regional Superior (Delegatus Generalis) of the Institute of Pontifical Right of the Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate from 1996 until 2002.

Fehlner was a Kolbean scholar. He explained and defended the teachings of St. Maximilian Kolbe against theologians and mariologists who consider the Saint to be a heretic or a pious journalist.^[9] He has written and spoken in support of the fifth Marian Dogma, the Blessed Virgin Mary's roles as Coredemptrix, Mediatrix and Advocate.^{[10] [11]}

Selected works

• The Role of Charity in the Ecclesiology of St. Bonaventure (1965)^[12]
• Mary and Theology: Scotus Revisited (1978)^[13]
• "The Immaculate Conception: Outer limits of love", MI, 25 (1989): 537–547.
• "Fr. Juniper Carol: His Mariology and scholarly achievement", Marian Studies, 43 (1992): 17–59.^{[14] [15]}
• The Great Sign: The Virgin Mother - The Birth of Our Lord Jesus Christ (1999)^[16]
• "Mater et magistra Apostolorum", IM, 1 (1/2001): 15–95.
• "De metaphysica Mariana quaedam", IM, 1 (2/2001): 13–42.
• St. Maximilian Kolbe: Martyr of Charity – Pneumatologist (His Theology of the Holy Spirit) (2004)

External links

• Mary Mediatrix website

Notes and References

1. Book: Gianpaolo Mosconi. Blessed Marie-Clementine Anuarite: Jesus Alone. 2009. Academy of the Immaculate. 978-1-60114-047-0. 3–.
2. Web site: Welcome "Home" Fr. Peter Damian! | Our Lady of the Angels Province, USA.
3. https://www.guadalupeshrine.org/about/franciscan-friars-of-the-immaculate/ "FFIs at the Guadalupe Shrine"
4. Book: Judith Marie Gentle. Robert L. Fastiggi. De Maria Numquam Satis: The Significance of the Catholic Doctrines on the Blessed Virgin Mary for All People. 30 September 2009. University Press of America. 978-0-7618-4848-6. 5–.
5. Book: Joseph P. Chinnici. When Values Collide: The Catholic Church, Sexual Abuse, and the Challenges of Leadership. registration. 2010. Orbis Books. 978-1-57075-873-7. 221–.
6. https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/name/peter-fehlner-obituary?pid=188967248 Peter Damien Fehlner-obituary
7. Book: Brother Anthony Josemaria Fti. The Blessed Virgin Mary in England: A Mary-Catechism with Pilgrimage to Her Holy Shrines. 1 November 2008. iUniverse. 978-0-595-50074-1. 428–.
8. Book: First Things: A Monthly Journal of Religion and Public Life. 1997. Institute on Religion and Public Life.
9. Book: Kalvelage Francis Mary. Kolbe – Saint of the Immaculata. 2001. Academy of the Immaculate. 978-1-60114-016-6. 206–.
10. Book: Erika Papp Faber. Our Mother's Tears: Ten Weeping Madonnas in Historic Hungary. 1 January 2006. Academy of the Immaculate. 978-1-60114-031-9. 117–.
11. http://campus.udayton.edu/mary/news98/0811.html "Summer Season at ML/IMRI Comes to A Close.
12. Book: Scott H. Hendrix. Ecclesia in Via. registration. 1974. Brill Archive. 90-04-03865-5. 289–.
13. Book: Bl. John Duns Scotus and His Mariology: Commemoration of the Seventh Centenary of His Death. 2009. Academy of the Immaculate. 978-1-60114-048-7. 247–.
14. Book: Gloria Falcão Dodd. The Virgin Mary, Mediatrix of All Graces: History and Theology of the Movement for a Dogmatic Definition from 1896 – 1964. 2012. Academy of the Immaculate. 978-1-60114-061-6. 10–.
15. Book: Gloria Falcão Dodd. The Virgin Mary, Mediatrix of All Graces: History and Theology of the Movement for a Dogmatic Definition from 1896 to 1964. 2012. Academy of the Immaculate. 978-1-60114-061-6. 516–.
16. Book: Father Christiaan W. Kappes. The Immaculate Conception: Why Thomas Aquinas Denied, While John Duns Scotus, Gregory Palamas, & Mark Eugenicus Professed the Absolute Immaculate Existence of Mary. 25 March 2014. Academy of the Immaculate. 978-1-60114-068-5. 183–.