Rev. Father Bernard Haring, CSsR, was a Catholic priest of the Redemptorist order, and one of the most influential moral theologians of the 20th century. Ordained in 1939, he served as a medic during the Second World War, and later taught moral theology at the Accademia Alfonsiana in Rome, and at universities around the world. An advisor at the Second Vatican Council, he contributed to several groundbreaking conciliar documents, including Gaudium et Spes, the Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World. He was a prolific author of over 100 books, and among his best known titles are the two three-volume series, "The Law of Christ" (1954) and "Free and Faithful in Christ" (1978). He famously argued against certain aspects of the encyclical Humanae Vitae, but in a way that avoided official condemnation from the Vatican. Hailed by many and criticized by others, he was known for promoting Gospel nonviolence and ecumenism. His approach to moral theology emphasized the intent or spirit of the law over the strict letter of the law, always guided by the love and mercy of God, and respecting a well-formed conscience, as opposed to focusing primarily on what is not allowed.
Rev. Father Bernard Haring, CSsR, was a Catholic priest of the Redemptorist order, and one of the most influential moral theologians of the 20th century. Ordained in 1939, he served as a medic during the Second World War, and later taught moral theology at the Accademia Alfonsiana in Rome, and at universities around the world. An advisor at the Second Vatican Council, he contributed to several groundbreaking conciliar documents, including Gaudium et Spes, the Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World. He was a prolific author of over 100 books, and among his best known titles are the two three-volume series, "The Law of Christ" (1954) and "Free and Faithful in Christ" (1978). He famously argued against certain aspects of the encyclical Humanae Vitae, but in a way that avoided official condemnation from the Vatican. Hailed by many and criticized by others, he was known for promoting Gospel nonviolence and ecumenism. His approach to moral theology emphasized the intent or spirit of the law over the strict letter of the law, always guided by the love and mercy of God, and respecting a well-formed conscience, as opposed to focusing primarily on what is not allowed.
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