Pierre-Marie Théas (September 14, 1894 – April 3, 1977) was a French

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

Bishop of Montauban The Roman Catholic Diocese of Montauban (Latin: ''Dioecesis Montis Albani''; French: ''Diocèse de Montauban'') is a diocese of the Latin Rite of the Roman Catholic Church in France. The diocese is coextensive with Tarn-et-Garonne, and is current ...

and

Bishop of Tarbes and Lourdes A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

. A significant figure in

Catholic resistance to Nazism Catholic resistance to Nazi Germany was a component of German resistance to Nazism and of Resistance during World War II. The role of the Catholic Church during the Nazi years remains a matter of much contention. From the outset of Nazi rule in ...

in France, he was recognised as

Righteous among the Nations Righteous Among the Nations ( he, חֲסִידֵי אֻמּוֹת הָעוֹלָם, ; "righteous (plural) of the world's nations") is an honorific used by the State of Israel to describe non-Jews who risked their lives during the Holocaust to sav ...

Yad Vashem Yad Vashem ( he, יָד וַשֵׁם; literally, "a memorial and a name") is Israel's official memorial to the victims of the Holocaust. It is dedicated to preserving the memory of the Jews who were murdered; honoring Jews who fought against th ...

for his efforts to protect Jews from the Nazi Holocaust.

Biography

Pierre-Marie Théas was born on September 14, 1894 in Barzun, Pyrénées-Atlantiques. He was

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the denominational hierarchy composed of other clergy) to perform va ...

as a priest on September 16, 1920 and was consecrated as the

on July 26, 1940. In 1940 he was present at the last days of the former Spanish President

Manuel Azaña Manuel Azaña Díaz (; 10 January 1880 – 3 November 1940) was a Spanish politician who served as Prime Minister of the Second Spanish Republic (1931–1933 and 1936), organizer of the Popular Front in 1935 and the last President of the Repu ...

, and offered support to his widow.

Resistance to Nazism

When the

Archbishop of Toulouse The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Toulouse (–Saint Bertrand de Comminges–Rieux) ( la, Archidioecesis Tolosana (–Convenarum–Rivensis); French: ''Archidiocèse de Toulouse (–Saint-Bertrand de Comminges–Rieux-Volvestre)''; Occitan: ''A ...

Jules-Géraud Saliège Jules-Géraud Saliège (24 February 1870 – 5 November 1956) was a French Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as Archbishop of Toulouse from 1928 until his death, and was a significant figure in Catholic resistance to Nazism in F ...

, led a powerful denunciation of the mistreatment of Jews in 1942, Théas joined other French bishops in denouncing the roundup of Jews for deportation to Nazi death camps. He wrote a pastoral letter condemning the Nazi deportation of Jews in the summer of 1942 in which he said: "I give voice to the outraged protest of Christian conscience and I proclaim… that all men, whatever their race or religion, have the right to be respected by individuals and by states." For his attempts to prevent the Jewish deportations and persecutions he was later honoured as "

Righteous Among The Nations Righteous Among the Nations ( he, חֲסִידֵי אֻמּוֹת הָעוֹלָם, ; "righteous (plural) of the world's nations") is an honorific used by the State of Israel to describe non-Jews who risked their lives during the Holocaust to sav ...

" by

. The protest of the bishops is seen by various historians as a turning point in the formerly passive response of the Catholic Church in France. Marie-Rose Gineste transported a pastoral letter from Bishop Théas of Montauban by bicycle to forty parishes, denouncing the uprooting of men and women "treated as wild animals", and the French Resistance smuggled the text to London, where it was broadcast to France by the ''

Radio Londres ''Radio Londres'' (, French for "Radio London") was a radio station broadcast from 1940 to 1944 by the BBC in London to German occupation of France during World War II, Nazi-occupied France. It was entirely in French Language, French and was o ...

'' service of the BBC, reaching tens of thousands of homes.Martin Gilbert; The Righteous - The Unsung Heroes of the Holocaust; Doubleday; 2002; ; p.230 Théas continued to oppose the Nazi policies culminating in a fiery sermon in his cathedral in 1944 in which he condemned the "Cruel and inhuman treatment of one of our fellow men". He was arrested the night after the sermon by the Gestapo. He was sent to a

concentration camp Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without charges or intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects". Thus, while it can simply ...

where he spent ten weeks and then was released and returned to his parish.

Post-war

After the war, in March 1945, he became the first president of the movement for reconciliation and peace named

Pax Christi Pax Christi International is an international Catholic peace movement. The Pax Christi International website declares its mission is "to transform a world shaken by violence, terrorism, deepening inequalities, and global insecurity." History ...

. The group, initiated by Marthe Dortel Chaudot, aimed at first mainly at the reconciliation between France and Germany, but in 1952 it was recognized by

Pope Pius XII Pope Pius XII ( it, Pio XII), born Eugenio Maria Giuseppe Giovanni Pacelli (; 2 March 18769 October 1958), was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 2 March 1939 until his death in October 1958. Before his e ...

as an official Catholic Peace Movement. On February 17, 1947 he was appointed the

by Pope Pius XII, and retired on February 12, 1970. On retirement he was appointed to the

titular see A titular see in various churches is an episcopal see of a former diocese that no longer functions, sometimes called a "dead diocese". The ordinary or hierarch of such a see may be styled a "titular metropolitan" (highest rank), "titular archbish ...

Sanctus Germanus The Bishop of St Germans is an episcopal title which was used by Anglo Saxon Bishops of Cornwall and currently in use in the Church of England and in the Roman Catholic Church. The title is used by suffragan bishops of the Church of England, an ...

, from which he resigned later in the same year. He was noted for his belief in

Liberation Theology Liberation theology is a Christian theological approach emphasizing the liberation of the oppressed. In certain contexts, it engages socio-economic analyses, with "social concern for the poor and political liberation for oppressed peoples". In ...

. He has been credited as saying: :"Urged on by unrestrainable forces, today's world asks for a revolution. The revolution must succeed, but it can succeed only if the Church enters the fray, bringing the Gospel. After being liberated from Nazi dictatorship, we want to liberate the working class from capitalist slavery." He died on April 3, 1977.

Works

* ''Ce Que Croyait Bernadette'' (The Faith of Bernadette) * ''Ce Que Croyait Le Vierge Marie'' (The Faith of the Virgin Mary). * ''Only Through These Hands'' translated into English by Geraldine Carrigan

References

External links

Pierre-Marie Théas
– his activity to save Jews' lives during the

Holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; a ...

, at

website {{DEFAULTSORT:Theas, Pierre-Marie 1894 births 1977 deaths People from Béarn Bishops of Montauban Bishops of Tarbes Participants in the Second Vatican Council French Righteous Among the Nations Catholic Righteous Among the Nations French military personnel of World War I Knights Commander of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany 20th-century Roman Catholic bishops in France