Progressive theologian who was a reluctant controversialist

Edward Schillebeeckx: THE DOMINICAN Edward Schillebeeckx, who has died aged 95, was one of the leading theologians of the 20th century whose impact extended far beyond the confines of the Roman Catholic Church.

A major influence on the Second Vatican Council, his work on christology, the church and the sacraments was at the cutting edge of theology for over four decades. This commitment to progressive, critical thinking brought him no little trouble from less theologically gifted ecclesiastical authority figures throughout his career.

Schillebeeckx was born into a Flemish family in Antwerp in 1914. He was educated by the Jesuits at Turnhout but on leaving school he entered the Dominican order. He studied philosophy and theology at the University of Louvain. He was ordained a priest in 1941.

He later studied at Le Saulchoir near Paris under fellow Dominican, Marie-Dominique Chenu, whom he regarded as the greatest theologian of the 20th century. He returned to Louvain where he lectured and wrote frequently on the necessity of church reform.

In 1958 he became Professor of Dogmatics and the History of Theology at the University of Nijmegen, a post he held until his retirement in 1983.

He first came to public notice before the opening of the Second Vatican Council in 1962 when the Dutch Catholic bishops issued a controversial letter advocating substantial reform of the Church, including the curtailing of the power of the Vatican. Schillebeeckx was widely regarded as the drafter of this letter.

He accompanied the Dutch bishops to the council and served as a theological adviser. He was among a group of theologians who successfully pressed for aggiornamento (bringing church up to date) in the face of strong initial curial resistance. This led to such reforms as adopting the use of the vernacular in the liturgy, intensifying dialogue with other Christian churches and rediscovering the centrality of scripture.

Schillebeeckx's own output comprises a bibliography of more than 400 items. His dense and voluminous literary style, as exemplified in Jesus(1974) and Christ(1977), does not always make for easy reading. He was nonetheless the first Roman Catholic theologian of stature to take seriously the historical research on Jesus in the 19th and 20th centuries.

He was both advocate and exemplar of a more pastoral theology that would take seriously the lived experience of people, rather than base conclusions exclusively on abstract, intellectual concepts.

He believed that people ought to be able to see the reasonableness of Catholic teaching and to link their experiences with it.

In December 1979 he was summoned to Rome to answer questions about his writings on christology and ministry and their compatibility with church teaching. Two other investigations followed, but none led to formal censure.

Unlike his contemporary accused, Hans Küng, he was a reluctant controversialist whose conclusions were always carefully qualified and subject to regular revision. Unlike Küng, he travelled to Rome and faced down his accusers.

In 1982, he became the first theologian to receive the Erasmus Prize, awarded for notable contributions to European culture.

In 1989, he joined 163 theologians in signing the Cologne Declaration, an uncompromising attack on papal centralism.

Edward Cornelis Florent Alfons Schillebeeckx: born November 12th, 1914; died December 23rd, 2009