Henri Grenier (20 May 1899 – 5 May 1980) was a

French Canadian French Canadians, referred to as Canadiens mainly before the nineteenth century, are an ethnic group descended from French people, French colonists first arriving in Canada (New France), France's colony of Canada in 1608. The vast majority of ...

priest, theologian, and philosopher. He was the author of a manual of

Thomistic Thomism is the philosophical and theological school which arose as a legacy of the work and thought of Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274), the Dominican philosopher, theologian, and Doctor of the Church. In philosophy, Thomas's disputed questions ...

philosophy Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

, once widely used in

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

seminaries A seminary, school of theology, theological college, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called seminarians) in scripture and theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as clerg ...

Life

Grenier was born in

Gaspé, Quebec Gaspé () is a city at the tip of the Gaspé Peninsula in the Gaspésie–Îles-de-la-Madeleine region of eastern Quebec in Canada. Gaspé is about northeast of Quebec City and east of Rimouski. Gaspé has a total population of 15,063, as of th ...

, and ordained for the diocese of Gaspé in 1924. He studied philosophy at the

Angelicum The Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas (PUST), also known as the ''Angelicum'' or ''Collegio Angelico'' (in honor of its patron, the ''Doctor Angelicus'' Thomas Aquinas), is a pontifical university located in the historic center of R ...

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

(1924-1926), and at the major seminary in Gaspé (1926-1927). From 1927-1930 he studied theology at the Angelicum and

Canon law Canon law (from , , a 'straight measuring rod, ruler') is a set of ordinances and regulations made by ecclesiastical jurisdiction, ecclesiastical authority (church leadership) for the government of a Christian organization or church and its membe ...

at the

Pontifical Lateran University The Pontifical Lateran University (; ), also known as Lateranum, is a pontifical university based in Rome. The university also hosts the central session of the Pontifical John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and Family. The university ...

. He held doctorates in philosophy, theology, and canon law. From 1930 to 1947 he was professor of theology at the seminary of Québec. In 1938 he was

incardinated Incardination is the formal term in the Catholic Church for a clergyman being under a bishop or other ecclesiastical superior. It is also sometimes used to refer to laity who may transfer to another part of the church. Examples include transfers ...

in the diocese of Québec. He spent a year in

Oklahoma Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...

, 1944-1945. He was for many years professor of philosophy at the

Université Laval (; English: ''Laval University)'' is a public research university in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada. The university traces its roots to the Séminaire de Québec, founded by François de Montmorency-Laval in 1663, making it the oldest institutio ...

Work

Grenier's ''Cursus Philosophiae'' was originally written in Latin, and was then translated into French and English. Gavan Monaghan called the publication of the ''Cursus'' "a milestone in the teaching of thomistic philosophy." ''The Thomist'' praised the ''Cursus'' for adhering faithfully to "the mind and teaching of St. Thomas and Aristotle." Along with

Charles De Koninck Charles De Koninck (29 July 1906 – 13 February 1965) was a Belgian-Canadian Thomist philosopher and theologian. As director of the Department of Philosophy at the Université Laval in Quebec, he influenced Catholic philosophy in French Canada a ...

and Louis Lachance, Grenier was a prominent Thomist critic of

personalism Personalism is an intellectual stance that emphasizes the importance of human persons. Personalism exists in many different versions, and this makes it somewhat difficult to define as a philosophical and theological movement. Friedrich Schleie ...

.Marie Martin-Hubbard
“Incursion personnaliste chez les thomistes canadiens-français des années 1930 et 1940 : l’exemple de François Hertel ”
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References

External links

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Excerpt from Grenier's manual of philosophy, with a biographical note

Thomistic Philosophy, Volumes 1-4. in newly typset format

Thomistic Philosophy, Volume 3: Moral Philosophy in PDF formatThomistic Philosophy - Volume 1–2: Logic, Philosophy of Nature and Metaphysics in PDF format
(in French)
Thomistic Philosophy - Volume 3: Moral Philosophy in PDF format
(in French) {{DEFAULTSORT:Grenier, Henri 1899 births 1980 deaths 20th-century Roman Catholics Thomists Canadian male non-fiction writers Canadian Roman Catholic writers Catholic philosophers Academic staff of Université Laval People from Gaspé, Quebec 20th-century Canadian philosophers