Pierre Lenhardt (5 November 1927 – 1 July 2019) was a

French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

religious theologian in the

Congregation of Our Lady of Sion The Congregation of Our Lady of Sion (, abbreviated NDS) is composed of two religious congregations in the Roman Catholic Church founded in Paris, France. One is composed of priests and religious brothers, founded in 1852, and the other is compose ...

Career

Pierre Lenhardt spend most of his childhood in

Morocco Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...

. He studied at

ESSEC Business School Founded in 1907, ESSEC Business School (École Supérieure des Sciences Economiques et Commerciales) is a French higher education institution specialising in business and management. It is a grande école, a type of institution known for select ...

and graduated in 1950. He began his career at Our Lady of Sion in 1962. He presented his master's thesis, titled ''Conditions de légitimité d'un témoignage chrétien auprès des juifs'' (Conditions of legitimacy of a Christian witness to the Jews) at the

Catholic University of Paris The Institut catholique de Paris (, abbr. ICP), known in English as the Catholic University of Paris (and in Latin as ''Universitas catholica Parisiensis''), is a private university located in Paris, France. History: 1875–present The Institut ...

in 1970. He gave lessons at the Catholic University of Paris as well as the Catholic University of Lyon, the

École Biblique École biblique et archéologique française de Jérusalem, commonly known as École Biblique, is a French academic establishment in Jerusalem specializing in archaeology and Biblical exegesis. It is housed by the Saint-Étienne priory. Associate ...

, among others in

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

and

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, ...

. He also directed a “Institut Saint-Pierre de Sion – Ratisbonne, Centre Chrétien d’Études Juives” (CCEJ)

Ratisbonne Monastery Ratisbonne Monastery (, ) is a monastery in the Rehavia neighborhood of Jerusalem, established by Marie-Alphonse Ratisbonne, a France, French Religious conversion, convert from Judaism. Work on the building, designed by the French architect M. D ...

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

. Lenhardt devoted his career to linking the teachings of the Catholic Church and Judaism. He was one of the first Catholic theologians to participate in

Torah The Torah ( , "Instruction", "Teaching" or "Law") is the compilation of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, namely the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. The Torah is also known as the Pentateuch () ...

and

Talmud The Talmud (; ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law (''halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of Haskalah#Effects, modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the cen ...

readings in Jerusalem. He earned a master's degree in Hebrew studies from the

Hebrew University of Jerusalem The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI; ) is an Israeli public university, public research university based in Jerusalem. Co-founded by Albert Einstein and Chaim Weizmann in July 1918, the public university officially opened on 1 April 1925. ...

in 1976. He received the ''prix de l'Amitié judéo-chrétienne de France'' in 2004.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lenhardt, Pierre 1927 births 2019 deaths French theologians Writers from Strasbourg French expatriates in Morocco French expatriates in Israel French Catholics