Hanna-Barbara Gerl-Falkovitz

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Hanna-Barbara Gerl-Falkovitz
Born (1945-11-23) 23 November 1945 (age 78)
Oberwappenöst, Tirschenreuth, Germany
Alma mater
OccupationCatholic philosopher
EmployerPope Benedict XVI Philosophical-Theological University
SpouseHans-Bernhard Wuermeling (1995–2019; his death)
Awards

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[edit]

Education[edit]

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[edit]

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,[7] and is the founder and vice president of the Gertrud von le Fort Society.[8]

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.”[9]

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

Personal life[edit]

Hanna-Barbara Gerl-Falkovitz was married to Hans-Bernhard Wuermeling, a coroner, from 1995 until his death in 2019.[10]

Views[edit]

In her writings and numerous public appearances, Gerl-Falkovitz has often defended traditional Catholic teaching on marriage.[11] She is opposed to abortion and has studied the philosophical background of the mentality that favors contraception and abortion.[12]

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.[13]

She supports the Catholic teaching that ordination to the priesthood is for men only.[14] In 2022, she criticized the German Synodal Way's call for women's ordination.[15]

Awards[edit]

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

Works[edit]

Selected works on Catholic figures and theological topics[edit]

  • Gerl-Falkovitz, Hanna (1985). Romano Guardini, 1885–1968 : Leben und Werk (in German). Mainz: Matthias-Grünewald-Verlag. ISBN 3-7867-1146-1. OCLC 12440856.
  • Gerl-Falkovitz, Hanna-Barbara (1994). Freundinnen christliche Frauen aus zwei Jahrtausenden (in German). München. ISBN 978-3-7904-0623-8. OCLC 75484994.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  • Beckmann, Beate; Gerl-Falkovitz, Hanna (2003). Edith Stein : Themen, Bezüge, Dokumente. Würzburg: Königshausen & Neumann. ISBN 3-8260-2476-1. OCLC 53241061.
  • Gerl-Falkovitz, Hanna-Barbara; TOPOS PLUS (2017). Romano Guardini Konturen des Lebens und Spuren des Denkens (in German). Kevelaer. ISBN 978-3-8367-1097-8. OCLC 974493638.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  • Gerl-Falkovitz, Hanna-Barbara; TOPOS PLUS (2016). Frau - Männin - Menschin zwischen Feminismus und Gender (in German). Kevelaer. ISBN 978-3-8367-1056-5. OCLC 934152867.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  • Gerl-Falkovitz, Hanna-Barbara (2016). Maria: der andere Anfang (in German). Heiligenkreuz im Wienerwald. ISBN 978-3-903118-13-3. OCLC 973210807.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  • Gerl-Falkovitz, Hanna-Barbara (2019). Geheimnis des Lebendigen : Versuche zu Romano Guardini (in German). Heiligenkreuz im Wienerwald, Austria. ISBN 978-3-903118-85-0. OCLC 1141764313.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)

Volumes by Ida Friederike Görres, edited by Gerl-Falkovitz[edit]

  • Görres, Ida Friederike (2004). Der Geopferte : ein anderer Blick auf John Henry Newman (in German). Vallendar-Schönstatt: Patris Verlag. ISBN 3-87620-261-2. OCLC 60116557.
  • Görres, Ida Friederike (2015). "Wirklich die neue Phönixgestalt?" : über Kirche und Konzil : unbekannte Briefe 1962-1971 von Ida Friederike Görres an Paulus Gordan (in German). Heiligenkreuz im Wienerwald: Be & Be. ISBN 978-3-902694-70-6. OCLC 944432309.

Gerl-Falkovitz in English translation[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "em. Univ.-Prof. DDr. Hanna-Barbara Gerl-Falkovitz". Hochschule Heiligenkreuz. Retrieved 29 July 2022.
  2. ^ "2021 Ratzinger Prize Laureate: 'The Sexual Revolution Left Behind a Deep Track of Destructions'". NCR. Retrieved 30 July 2022.
  3. ^ "em. Univ.-Prof. DDr. Hanna-Barbara Gerl-Falkovitz". Hochschule Heiligenkreuz. Retrieved 29 July 2022.
  4. ^ Tagespost, Die (20 April 2021). "Die Tagespost". die-tagespost.de (in German). Retrieved 30 July 2022.
  5. ^ "Vom Geist der Versöhnung". exmatrikulationsamt.de (in German). Retrieved 3 October 2022.
  6. ^ Germany, Kirche und Leben, Münster (31 October 2019). "Philosophin Gerl-Falkovitz erhält Josef-Pieper-Preis". www.kirche-und-leben.de (in German). Retrieved 30 July 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  7. ^ Ida Friederike Görres: Erkenntnisse und Einsichten, retrieved 30 July 2022
  8. ^ "Über Uns | Gertrud von le Fort" (in German). 12 November 2021. Retrieved 30 July 2022.
  9. ^ AC, Wimmer (22 February 2023). "Four women opt out of German Synodal Way, saying it 'departs from the universal Church'". Catholic News Agency. Retrieved 23 February 2023.
  10. ^ "Hans-Bernhard Wuermeling | Freundeskreis Mooshausen" (in German). 1 July 2019. Retrieved 30 July 2022.
  11. ^ Tagespost, Die (24 May 2022). "Die Tagespost". die-tagespost.de (in German). Retrieved 30 July 2022.
  12. ^ Tagespost, Die (15 November 2010). "Die Tagespost". die-tagespost.de (in German). Retrieved 30 July 2022.
  13. ^ "Scholars Worldwide Sign Open Letter About JPII Institute Changes". NCR. 30 August 2019. Retrieved 29 July 2022.
  14. ^ "Kommentar zum Jahresschluss: Von Hanna-Barbara Gerl-Falkovitz – Vatican News". www.vaticannews.va (in German). 31 December 2021. Retrieved 30 July 2022.
  15. ^ Schoenle, Bryant (5 February 2022). "German 'Synodal Way' Members Back Text Calling For Women Priests". Ave Maria Radio. Retrieved 30 July 2022.
  16. ^ Germany, Kirche und Leben, Münster (31 October 2019). "Philosophin Gerl-Falkovitz erhält Josef-Pieper-Preis". www.kirche-und-leben.de (in German). Retrieved 29 July 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  17. ^ "Prize". Towarzystwo im. Edyty Stein. Retrieved 29 July 2022.
  18. ^ "Religionsphilosophin Gerl-Falkovitz erhält Augustin-Bea-Preis". www.kathpress.at. Retrieved 29 July 2022.
  19. ^ "2021 Ratzinger Prize Laureate: 'The Sexual Revolution Left Behind a Deep Track of Destructions'". NCR. 24 November 2021. Retrieved 29 July 2022.

External links[edit]

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