11 Facts About Georges Cottier

Georges Cottier was a member of the Dominicans and was made a cardinal in 2003.

Georges Cottier studied theology and philosophy at the Pontificium Athenaeum Internationale Angelicum, the future Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas, until 1952 obtaining a baccalaureate in philosophy and a licentiate in theology.

Georges Cottier was a professor at the Universities of Geneva and Fribourg.

Georges Cottier became a member of the International Theological Commission in 1986 and its secretary in 1989, a post he held until 2003.

Georges Cottier was appointed Theologian of the Pontifical Household in 1990.

Georges Cottier was appointed titular archbishop of Tullia in 2003 and received his episcopal consecration on 20 October 2003 to meet the requirement that only bishops be cardinals.

Georges Cottier's funeral was celebrated in St Peter's Basilica by Pope Francis on 1 April 2016.

Georges Cottier reacted to John Paul II's encyclical Ecclesia de Eucharistia by saying that the Catholic Church rejects the concept of open communion.

Georges Cottier defended the Church's view that the embryo is fully a human being.

Georges Cottier came out in defense of Pope Pius XII against those who continue to criticize his legacy.

Georges Cottier was critical of anonymous Christianity, saying that a theological system that absorbs all realities into Christ ends by turning Christ into a kind of metaphysical postulate of the affirmation of human values, which makes the Church incapable of engaging in serious dialogue, even on the level of human rights.