GALTIER, PAUL

Theologian; b. Jouanesq (Aveyron), France, Feb. 9, 1872; d. Rome, Jan. 20, 1961. He entered the Jesuits in 1892 and was ordained in 1904. He taught dogmatic theology at Enghien, Belgium (1907–38), and at the Gregorian University, Rome (1939–57). Galtier contributed greatly to the understanding of the divine indwelling. In explaining this mystery he did not admit a special relation of the just to each person of the Trinity [De SS. Trinitate in se et in nobis (Paris 1953), L'Habitation en nous des trois personnes (Paris 1950), Le Saint Esprit en nous d'après des Pères grecs (Paris 1946)]. In Christology, the most original aspects of his doctrine are the conception of Christ the Redeemer as the end of creation, and the explanation (much disputed later) of the unity between the divine and human conscience of Christ by means of the beatific vision [De incarnatione et redemptione (Paris 1947), Les deux Adam (Paris 1947), L'Unité du Christ: Étre, personne, conscience (Paris 1939)]. Galtier's research was especially esteemed in the history of Christian penance. He demonstrated in a very convincing manner that the Church of the Fathers reconciled sinners and attributed to this act a value analogous to that of Baptism, i.e., the remission of sins [De paenitentia tractatus dogmatico-historicus (Rome 1957), L'Église et la rémission de péchés aux premiers siècles (Paris 1932), Aux Origines du sacrement de pénitence (Rome 1951)].

Bibliography: g. jacquemet, Catholicisme 4:1742–43. Liber annualis Pontificiae Universitatis Gregorianae (Rome 1962) 103–107.

[z. alszeghy]