1904–1984

Karl Rahner and "anonymous Christianity"

The German Jesuit Karl Rahner studied under Martin Heidegger in Freiburg. He taught theology at Innsbruck (from 1937), Munich, and Münster, and wrote more than three thousand works that became a foundation of 20th-century Catholic theology. Among them is the teaching on the "anonymous Christian."

Until 1962 Rahner was little known outside the academy. At the Second Vatican Council he became, by general agreement, "the most influential participant" and shaped all sixteen of its documents. His summing-up, Foundations of Christian Faith, appeared in 1978. Rahner died in 1984, leaving behind the name of "godfather" of modern Catholic theology.