Henri De Lubac and the Heresy of Racism

About a year ago, a man from San Antonio sent me a short letter. “Back in the summer of 1982, I was sent to Lyon, France, as punishment for what had been a tumultuous freshman year at a Jesuit high school, after which I was asked not to return (incidentally, not because of grades),” he wrote. “I was to spend thirty-five days doing the Spiritual Exercises of Ignatius of Loyola with a family friend, Fr. Henri de Lubac. ‘Fr. Henri' and I had a wonderful time and he helped me out a lot. We talked about his time in the French resistance in WWII, among other things.” What a punishment! “Fr. Henri,” or Henri de Lubac, SJ (1896–1991), was one of the preeminent Catholic theologians of the twentieth century. In 1983, one year after my correspondent's encounter with de Lubac, Pope John Paul II would make him a cardinal deacon, a largely honorary position, recognizing his vast theological contributions and holiness of life. It is fitting that de Lubac guided this man to discover God's will during his difficult youth. Spiritual discernment and spiritual resistance were characteristic of de Lubac's Jesuit vocation and personal mission.