Brother Max Thurian (16 August 1921 in

Geneva , neighboring_municipalities= Carouge, Chêne-Bougeries, Cologny, Lancy, Grand-Saconnex, Pregny-Chambésy, Vernier, Veyrier , website = https://www.geneve.ch/ Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevr ...

, Switzerland – 15 August 1996 in Geneva, Switzerland) was the subprior of the

Taizé community The Taizé Community is an ecumenical Christian monastic fraternity in Taizé, Saône-et-Loire, Burgundy, France. It is composed of more than one hundred brothers, from Catholic and Protestant traditions, who originate from about thirty countrie ...

, an ecumenical monastic community in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

. He was the subprior at Taizé from the time of its inception in the 1940s. During the Second Vatican Council, he was invited by Pope Paul VI to observe the liturgical reform of the Catholic Mass. In 1969 he expressed that he was satisfied with the reforms of the

Second Vatican Council The Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the , or , was the 21st ecumenical council of the Roman Catholic Church. The council met in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome for four periods (or sessions), each lasting between 8 and ...

, under the belief that Protestants could receive Holy Communion along with Roman Catholics. This is false, however, as the Roman Catholic Church forbids non-Catholics from reception of Holy Communion at the Mass. On 12 May 1988 Thurian converted to Roman Catholicism and was ordained a priest. On 24 July 1996 Thurian published an article in ''

L'Osservatore Romano ''L'Osservatore Romano'' (, 'The Roman Observer') is the daily newspaper of Vatican City State which reports on the activities of the Holy See and events taking place in the Catholic Church and the world. It is owned by the Holy See but is not ...

'', in which, while maintaining his complete approval for the liturgical reform, he lamented that in its practical implementation there was a risk that the Mass would lose "its character of mystery"."The Liturgy & Contemplation"
''

'', 24 July 1996.

References

1921 births 1996 deaths Clergy from Geneva Members of Christian religious orders Converts to Roman Catholicism from Evangelicalism 20th-century Swiss Roman Catholic priests {{Switzerland-reli-bio-stub