Cardinal Augustin Bea and Maria Valtorta
Born in 1881 in Riedböhringen, Germany, and died on November 16, 1968, in Rome, Augustin Bea was a Jesuit. He was the provincial of the Jesuits in Germany from 1921 to 1924, during the Weimar Republic when the future Pius XII was apostolic nuncio in Germany.
In 1924, he was called to Rome to teach biblical theology at the Pontifical Gregorian University.
In 1928, he entered the Pontifical Biblical Institute founded twenty years earlier by Pope Pius X.
In 1930, he became its rector until 1949.
In 1941, he became confessor to Pius XII, with whom he apparently had a friendship.
In 1943, Pius XII published his encyclical Divino afflante Spiritu on the modern study of the Holy Scriptures. This turning point in the Catholic approach to biblical research is largely owed to Father Bea.
In 1945, at Pius XII’s request, he worked on the translation of a new Psalter (collection of psalms). It was perhaps on this occasion that he established ties with the Congregation of Rites, whose secretary was Mgr Carinci. This collaboration continued in 1950 with the preparation of the liturgical reform.
In 1947, he heard about Maria Valtorta and studied several booklets, as he indicates in his statement below.
In 1950, he participated with the Holy Office, of which he became a consultor, in the dogmatic definition of the Assumption of the Virgin. It was as a member of this congregation that he was presented (March 1959) to the newly elected Pope John XXIII, and again as a member of the Pontifical Biblical Commission.
On December 14, 1959, he was made cardinal and became a central figure of the council and the first president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity.
In 1981, John Paul II wrote a tribute on the centenary of the cardinal’s birth.
Testimonial on the work of Maria Valtorta[edit | edit source]
The future Cardinal Bea wrote in 1952:PONTIFICAL BIBLICAL INSTITUTERome, Piazza della Pilotta, 35
A few years ago, before I was appointed consultor of the Supreme Congregation of the Holy Office, I read several booklets of the work “Words of Eternal Life,” written – dictated – by Miss Maria Valtorta. I was particularly attentive to the exegetical, historical, archaeological, and topographical parts. Regarding the exegesis, I found no error of any kind in the booklets I examined. Moreover, I was very impressed by the remarkable accuracy of the archaeological and topographical descriptions. Some details expressed with less precision led me to question the author through an intermediary. She provided satisfactory explanations. The description of certain scenes seemed to me too long, with here and there colors too vivid. But generally, reading the work is not only interesting and pleasant, but truly edifying and instructive for those less well informed about the mysteries of the life of Jesus.
If, as can be assumed, the other booklets are of the same nature, it seems to me that the work, duly abridged, purified, and corrected, could do much good to Catholic families, especially in popular circles, as it presents the august person of the Lord, the Virgin Mary, and the Apostles in an easily accessible and attractive form. It could play the same role as the "illustrated Bibles" in the past. This is important nowadays when so many ideas and images enter families through novels, cinema, or magazines.
The work presents many analogies with the “Life and Passion of the Christ” published in the last century by Brentano: this latter work takes up the visions of God’s servant Anne-Catherine Emmerich (the Passion 1833, the Life, 3 volumes, 1858-1863) and for almost a century did immense good to German-speaking Catholic families before being translated into other languages and published in various countries. It never gave the ecclesiastical authority any reason to intervene; on the contrary, it was warmly recommended by many bishops.
However, it remains that, taking modern ideas into account, Maria Valtorta’s work should not be published as coming from visions or extraordinary spiritual states, but simply, and without an author’s name, as a “Life of Jesus, recounted and illustrated for the Catholic people.” A conscientious revision by a reviewer competent in theology and exegesis should eliminate anything that might offend modern readers, and ensure that the whole is presented in a style worthy of such a sublime subject.
Rome, January 23, 1952
Agostino Bea, S.J.
It was on Father Bea’s suggestion that, in the hope of obtaining the Church’s imprimatur, Maria Valtorta began to correct or delete, on a typed copy destined for printing, expressions that highlighted the supernatural origin of the work. But these corrections, which Father Berti called “camouflage,” could not be completed and were never transferred to the printed editions: these strictly reproduce the original manuscript of the work.
Following Mgr Carinci, Father Bea thus attested in writing his support for Maria Valtorta's work: he was a member of the Holy Office. He was joined by testimonies from theologians and biblical scholars such as Mgr Ugo Lattanzi, dean of the Faculty of Theology at Lateran, Father Roschini, and Father Corrado Berti, professor of dogmatics and sacramental theology.
Testimony extracted from Pro and Against Maria Valtorta – CEV – ISBN 88-7987-130-7.