David Berger (theologian)

David Berger
Berger in 2011
Born (1968-03-08) 8 March 1968 (age 56)
Würzburg, Germany
Occupation(s)Theologian, author
Known forGay activist

David Berger (born 8 March 1968 in Würzburg) is a German theologian, author and gay activist.

Biography

From 1991 to 1998, Berger studied philosophy, Catholic theology and German language and literature in Würzburg, Cologne and Dortmund. Berger is a German neo-Thomist and took a critical stance to the work of Karl Rahner. Berger was a professor of the Pontifical Academy of St. Thomas Aquinas in Rome[1] and also worked as a religious education teacher at a high school in Erftstadt, Germany. The Catholic Church has since revoked his licence to teach.[2]

In 2010, Berger's homosexuality was publicized. He then published his book Der heilige Schein: Als schwuler Theologe in der katholischen Kirche ("The holy appearance: Being a gay theologian in the Catholic church"), in which he claimed that 20 to 40 percent of the Catholic clergy were homosexual.[1][3]

He subsequently was the editor-in-chief of the gay periodical Männer (Berlin). He increasingly took a critical stance towards Islam and immigration, which in February 2015 led to him being dismissed from that position and to Berger distancing himself from the German LGBT movement.[4] Berger continues as an independent blogger and supports, among other things, the German anti-migration party AfD.

Works by Berger

  • Natur und Gnade in systematischer Theologie und Religionspädagogik von der Mitte des 19. Jahrhunderts bis zur Gegenwart. S. Roderer. Regensburg 1998. ISBN 3-89073-980-6.
  • Thomas von Aquin und die Liturgie. Ed. Thomisticae. Cologne 2000. ISBN 3-89811-286-1 (translation in English and French).
  • Thomismus. Große Leitmotive der thomistischen Synthese und ihre Aktualität für die Gegenwart. Ed. Thomisticae. Cologne 2001. ISBN 3-8311-1620-2.
  • Thomas von Aquins "Summa theologiae". Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft. Darmstadt 2004. ISBN 3-534-17456-9.
  • Was ist ein Sakrament? Der hl. Thomas von Aquin und die Sakramente im allgemeinen. Franz Schmitt. Siegburg 2004. ISBN 3-87710-278-6.
  • Thomas von Aquin begegnen. Sankt-Ulrich. Augsburg 2002. ISBN 3-929246-77-5 (translation in Hungarian: Budapest 2008).
  • In der Schule des hl. Thomas von Aquin. Studien zur Geschichte des Thomismus. nova et vetera. Bonn 2005. ISBN 3-936741-30-1.
  • Der heilige Schein: Als schwuler Theologe in der katholischen Kirche. 2010. ISBN 978-3-550-08855-1.
  • Editor:
    • Karl Rahner – Kritische Annäherungen. Franz Schmitt. Siegburg 2004. ISBN 3-87710-280-8.
    • together with Jörgen Vijgen: Thomistenlexikon. nova et vetera. Bonn 2006. ISBN 3-936741-37-9.

References

  1. ^ a b "Theologe David Berger: "Großer Teil der katholischen Kleriker ist homosexuell"". Der Spiegel. 21 November 2010 – via www.spiegel.de.
  2. ^ "Kölner Stadt-Anzeigers. November 3, 2015".
  3. ^ ""Der heilige Schein"". Die Welt. 3 December 2010 – via www.welt.de.
  4. ^ Fedders, Jonas (1 October 2019). "Bruderzwist in der Neuen Rechten" (in German). Gegneranalyse. Retrieved 13 March 2020.

External links

  • Philosophia Perennis – David Berger's blog
  • Personal homepage of Berger (engl/German)
  • About David Berger. Where two worlds coincide (engl.)
  • Frankfurter Rundschau: Ich darf nicht länger schweigen (German)
  • Frankfurter Rundschau: Kirche feuert schwulen Theologen (German)
  • kath.net: Ansonsten muss ich dies als Verleumdung betrachten (German)
  • Spiegel:Theologe David Berger: Großteil katholischer Kleriker homosexuell
  • Der Spiegel: Gay Comments – Pope Francis Not as Liberal as He Seems
  • Die Welt: "Der heilige Schein"
  • Pinknews: Over half of catholic priests are gay says vatican insider
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