David Berger (born 8 March 1968 in Würzburg) is a German theologian, author and gay activist.
David Berger | |
|---|---|
 Berger in 2011 | |
| Born | 8 March 1968 Würzburg, Germany |
| Occupation(s) | Theologian, author |
| Known for | Gay activist |
Biography
editFrom 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
edit- 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
edit- ^ a b "Theologe David Berger: "Großer Teil der katholischen Kleriker ist homosexuell"". Der Spiegel. 21 November 2010 – via www.spiegel.de.
- ^ "Kölner Stadt-Anzeigers. November 3, 2015".
- ^ ""Der heilige Schein"". Die Welt. 3 December 2010 – via www.welt.de.
- ^ Fedders, Jonas (1 October 2019). "Bruderzwist in der Neuen Rechten" (in German). Gegneranalyse. Retrieved 13 March 2020.
External links
edit- 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