Gregory Baum

Canadian theologian

Gerhard Albert Baum (June 20, 1923 – October 18, 2017), better known as Gregory Baum, was a German born Canadian priest and theologian in the Catholic Church. He became known in North America and Europe in the 1960s for his work on ecumenism, interfaith dialogue, and the relationship between the Catholic Church and Jews. In the later 1960s, he went to the New School for Social Theory in New York and became a sociologist, which led to his work on creating a dialogue between classical sociology (Marx, Tocqueville, Durkheim, Toennies, Weber, etc.) and Christian theology. In the 1970s, he welcomed the insights of the Theology of Liberation that came from Latin America and other societies. He also became interested in the work of Karl Mannheim and developed a program of ideology critique that he hoped would eliminate the ideological or prejudicial elements in religion. In the 1980s and 1990s, Baum continued his study into ideology critique by integrating the work of the Frankfurt School of Critical Theory. He connected the Frankfurt School's concept of "the end of innocent critique" with Liberation theology's "preferential option for the poor".

Born to a Jewish mother and a Protestant father, in Berlin, he came to Canada from England as a war refugee. He arrived by boat in Quebec in 1940 with other Germans, most of them Jewish; they were housed in refugee camps, under military control. After some transfers between Quebec, Trois Rivières, New Brunswick and Farnham, he was finally sent to Sherbrooke, Quebec.

In 1946, while studying mathematics at McMaster University, a friend gave him a copy of Augustine's Confessions. Shortly after he became a Roman Catholic. In 1947 he entered the Augustinian Order and was ordained to the priesthood. In 1978, after leaving the Augustinians, he married his close friend Shirley Flynn and lived with her until her death in 2007. He remained committed to "exploring my sexuality in non conformist ways." A strong supporter of gays and lesbians in the Church, Baum had been aware since adolescence of his own attraction to men. After moving to Montreal in 1986, he fell in love with a former priest. Baum died in hospital in Montreal on October 18, 2017, surrounded by his friends. His funeral was held at his parish church, Saint Pierre Apôtre in Montreal. Canadian author Michael Higgins, who first met Baum in 1968, writes "Politeness, ingenuousness, and collegiality are the personal as well as professional qualities that have defined his life and vocation no matter the setting — university, chancery, parish hall, retreat house, or activist cell."

He holds honorary doctorates from Huron University College, London, Ontario; St. Francis Xavier University, Antigonish, N. S; Ohio Wesleyan University, Delaware, Ohio; Lafayette College, Easton, Pa.; Wilfrid Laurier University, Waterloo, Ontario; McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario; Concordia University, Montreal, Quebec, and St. Jerome's University, Waterloo, Ontario. In 1990, he was made an Officer of the Order of Canada in recognition of being "a guide and inspiration to generations of students of many different faiths and backgrounds".