Louis Billot (12 January 1846, Sierck-les-Bains, Moselle (France) – 18 December 1931, Ariccia, Latium, Italie) was a French Jesuit priest and theologian. Raised to the cardinalate in 1911, he resigned from it in 1927, the only cleric to have done so in the twentieth century.

[edit] Biography

Louis Billot was born in and studied at the seminaries in Metz, Bordeaux, and Blois. Ordained a priest on May 22, 1869, he entered the Society of Jesus six months later, on November 25, in Angers. Billot did pastoral work in Paris from 1875 to 1878, and then in Laval until 1879.

He taught at the Catholic University of Angers from 1879 to 1882, and made his final vows as a Jesuit on February 2, 1883, whilst teaching at the Jesuit Scholasticate of Ile-de-Jersey. In 1885, Billot became a professor of dogmatic theology at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome. In addition his academic post, he was named a consultor to the Holy Office on June 19, 1909.

A keen proponent of Thomistic scholasticism, Billot became a leading figure in metaphysical and speculative theology. His strong influence on Catholic theology was created by his numerous published works and his many students^[1]. He was instrumental in drafting the 1907 encyclical Pascendi Dominici Gregis of Pope Pius X. He was a close friend of Fr. Henri Le Floch, rector of the French Seminary in Rome.^{[citation needed]}

Pius X created him Cardinal Deacon of S. Maria in via Lata in the consistory of November 27, 1911. Billot was one of the cardinal electors in the conclave of 1914, and later participated in that of 1922 as well. He was also one of the three Cardinal-Presidents of the Pontifical Academy "S. Tommaso" in Rome, together with Benedetto Lorenzelli and Michele Lega. He was appointed a member of the Pontifical Biblical Commission on February 6, 1923.

Billot's support for the deeply conservative movement Action Française eventually created tension between him and the Vatican. After Pope Pius XI issued his condemnation of the movement, which he believed used Catholicism for its own political ends, Billot expressed strong disagreement, saying that the political activities of monarchist Catholics ought not to be censured by Rome^[2]. After a stormy meeting with pope Pius XI he submitted his resignation from the cardinalate on September 13, 1927^[3], who accepted it eight days later, on September 21. Billot's forfeiture was made public to his former colleagues in the College of Cardinals at the consistory of the following December 19. He was the only cardinal to resign that rank during the twentieth century.

Billot died as a simple priest at the Jesuit Novitiate of Galloro, near Ariccia, at the age of 85. He is buried in the Jesuit chapel of the Campo di Verano cemetery. His legacy as the foremost Thomistic theologian of modern times continues to this day.

[edit] References

1. ^ McCool, Gerald A. "Nineteenth-century Scholasticism: The Search for a Unitary Method". Fordham University Press: 1989.
2. ^ TIME Magazine. Billot v. Pope October 3, 1927
3. ^ Many historians believe that, in fact, the pope demanded that he offer his resignation

[edit] External links

• Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church
• Catholic-Hierarchy