CATHREIN, VIKTOR

Jesuit moral philosopher and spiritual writer; b. Brig, Switzerland, May 8, 1845; d. Aachen, Germany, Sept. 10, 1931. He entered the Jesuits in 1863 and became a professor in the scholasticate of the German province. Cathrein was a leading neo-Thomist and was distinguished for his vigorous attack upon positivism in ethics and jurisprudence and for his opposition to the idea that morality can be separated from religion. His criticism of socialism was influential in shaping Catholic thought upon the subject. His Der Sozialismus (Freiburg 1890) went through 23 editions up to 1923 and was translated into the principal modern languages. Among his other philosophical works were: Moralphilosophie (2 v. Freiburg 1890–91; 20th ed.1955); Grundbegriffe des Strafrechts (Freiburg 1905); Die Einheit des sittlichen Bewusstseins (3 v. Freiburg 1914); Die Grundlage des Völkerrechts (Freiburg 1918). Cathrein also took an interest in spirituality, and some of his last writings are in this field: Die Verheissungen des göttlichen Herzens Jesu (Freiburg 1919); Die Christliche Demut (Freiburg 1919); Eucharistische Konvertitenbilder (Leipzig 1923); Die lässliche Sünde (Freiburg 1926); Lust und Freude, ihr Wesen, ihr sittlicher Charakter (Innsbruck 1931).

Bibliography: l. koch, Jesuiten-Lexikon: Die Gesellschaft Jesu einst und jetzt (Paderborn 1934); photoduplicated with rev. and suppl., 2 v. (Louvain-Heverlee 1962), 307. w. schÖllgen, Lexikon für Theologie und Kirche, ed. j. hofer, and k. rahner, 10v. (2d, new ed. Freiburg 1957–65); suppl., Das Zweite Vatikanische Konzil: Dokumente und Kommentare, ed. h.s. brechter et al., pt. 1 (1966)² 2:980. e. raitz von frentz, Dictionnaire de spiritualité ascétique et mystique. Doctrine et histoire, m. viller et al. (Paris 1932–) 2:352.

[l. b. o'neil]