Abstract EN:

Apart from testimonials with a short biographical account, and proceedings of a symposium, no thorough studies on Bruno de Solages have come out, least of all a full-scale biography, in spite of his commitment in the crises of the 20th c. 's history of the Church or of Europe at war, a theme he tackled with the notion of “Just war”. Deeply influenced in his early years by such figures as Cardinal Mercier or Father Lagrange, he resigned from Chief editor of Revue apologétique when an article opposed to l'Action française was denied publication. As a Thomist theologian, he got involved in Patristic studies, but also urged Catholic Action seminars to bring together Faith and Science, and as a Christian philosopher, fought beside Blondel for recognition. Singled out by Mgr Saliège during a Social Week session, he became Dean of the Catholic Institute in Toulouse in 1932, teaching theology too, until he resigned in 1964. As he implemented Deus Scientiarum Dominus, he made extensions in the Catholic Institute and launched theology courses for lay students; besides, in the 1930ies, he opened it to persecuted people or to opponents of fascist regimes. He was active in movements of spiritual or intellectual resistance to Nazism or to French Vichy government. In 1944, he was taken to a concentration camp. From 1945 onward, he became a staunch advocate of French theologians like de Lubac or Teilhard, spreading information on the latter's ground-breaking theories. Bruno de Solages remained active on all fronts to the end, publishing at a late age the works he had often conceived of in his youth.