The death of Gregory Baum on Wednesday, October 18, is a passing of great consequence for the Catholic Intellectual Tradition.
Baum was a theological expert or peritus at the Second Vatican Council, a journalist, a mathematician, an ecumenical theologian, an ex-Augustinian friar, a married man, a celebrated dissenter, a pioneering sociologist of religion and a prophetic bridge-builder in the turbulent seas of interfaith dialogue.
Baum likened the Catholic church to a “company that becomes so big that it can’t be run anymore; any management consultant would take one look at the Catholic Church and even without any highfalutin spiritual liberal ideas he or she would say: ‘This is simply impossible. You have to decentralize, you have to delegate, and you need a different system.’”
That’s why he liked Pope Francis and that is why his last years (he was 94 when he died) were suffused with hope. The Bergoglio papacy reminded him of the Roncalli promise.
Along with canonist and theologian Ladislas Orsy and Cambridge theologian Nicholas Lash, Baum was honored by Sacred Heart University for the sterling work they did as shapers of the CIT.
Baum was a prolific writer publishing a raft of books, articles, columns and essays exploring the legacy and spirit of the Second Vatican Council. That very Council was the making of Baum: he thrived in its intellectual hothouse and he delighted to find a company of co-workers inspired by the best of Catholic thinking.
Politeness, ingenuousness and collegiality are the personal as well as professional qualities that have defined his life and vocation as a theologian and social thinker no matter the setting—university, chancery, parish hall or activist cell.
He was a giant on the post-conciliar landscape.