Prominent Dominican Theologian
Edward Schillebeeckx, OP Dies at 95

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Dominican Father Edward Schillebeeckx, a theologian whose work had a tremendous influence on the Church, died at the age of 95 December 23 in Nijmegen, Netherlands, where he lived since 1957. He died of natural causes.

The Dominican friar taught in the Department of Dogmatic and Historical Theology at the Catholic University of Nijmegen, now known as Radboud University Nijmegen, from 1957 until his retirement in 1983.

Advisor to the Dutch bishops at the Second Vatican Council in Rome (1962-1965) and at the Dutch Pastoral Council at Noordwijkerhout (1966-1970), Schillebeeckx played a major role in ecclesiastic and theological renewal in the second half of the Twentieth Century.

Mary Catherine Hilkert, OP (Peace) Professor of Theology at Notre Dame University, said, "The death of Edward Schillebeeckx is a great loss for the Dominican Family, the Church, the world, and all who knew and loved him. But now this theologian who wrote so powerfully about "the most human God" and what it means to encounter "the God who is new each moment" shares in that mystery face to face. We give thanks for our brother Edward who told the story of Jesus in a way that inspired so many others to make that story their own and who reminded us all that God's desire is the flourishing of humankind and of all of God's beloved creation."

On learning of his death, Kathleen McManus, OP (Blauvelt) Associate Professor of Theology (Systematics) at the University of Portland commented, "Somehow, it is fitting that Edward should depart this earth just before Christmas. He loved the Incarnation: He loved the world, believing as he did that the world is the place where we encounter and enter into union with God. This proclamation of God's life among us was always rooted in his own deep Dominican spirituality, attuned to the divine in the depths of all that is human. Surely, in the gift of eternal life Edward is glorying in the world's fullness in Christ."

According to a report in NCR. "From the time of his appointment to the theological faculty at Nijmegen in 1958, Schillebeeckx was a tireless advocate of a more pastoral, personal theology, one that would also take into consideration the experiences of people rather than base conclusions exclusively on abstract, intellectual concepts. His first major book, Christ the Sacrament of the Encounter with God, published in English in 1963, represented a serious attempt to apply this thinking to sacramental theology. It sharply challenged the more mechanistic approach to the sacraments as mere dispensers of grace and stressed them instead as interactive meetings with Jesus."

Below is a partial list of his most widely held writings.

Jesus : an Experiment in Christology
18 editions published between 1974 and 2002 in 5 languages and held by 1,515 libraries worldwide
Christ, The Experience of Jesus as Lord
17 editions published between 1977 and 1993 in 5 languages and held by 1,188 libraries worldwide
Revelation and Theology
7 editions published between 1964 and 1987 in 3 languages and held by 865 libraries worldwide
Christ, the Sacrament of the Encounter with God
8 editions published between 1960 and 1977 in 4 languages and held by 803 libraries worldwide
Ministry, Leadership in the Community of Jesus Christ
11 editions published between 1980 and 1986 in 5 languages and held by 767 libraries worldwide
Interim report on theBbooks Jesus & Christ
2 editions published between 1980 and 1981 in English and held by 752 libraries worldwide
God, The Future of Man
5 editions published between 1968 and 1977 in English and held by 703 libraries worldwide
Consensus in theology? : A dialogue with Hans Küng and Edward Schillebeeckx by Hans Küng(Book)
2 editions published in 1980 in English and held by 686 libraries worldwide
God Is New Each moment
10 editions published between 1982 and 2004 in 3 languages and held by 632 libraries worldwide
The Church With a Human Face: a New and Expanded Theology of Ministry
8 editions published between 1985 and 2002 in 4 languages and held by 599 libraries worldwide.