Alfred Loisy

Alfred Firmin Loisy () (28 February 18571 June 1940) was a French Catholic priest, theologian, and academic, generally regarded as one of the leading figures of the modernist movement within the Roman Catholic Church. He was a critic of traditional views on the interpretation of the Bible, and argued that the methods of modern biblical criticism could aid theology. He famously wrote that "Jesus announced the kingdom, and it is the Church that came".

Loisy's views brought him into conflict with the Catholic hierarchy, including Popes Leo XIII and Pius X. In 1893, he was dismissed from his position as professor of the Catholic University of Paris. Several of his works were placed in the Index of Forbidden Books, and in 1908 he was formally excommunicated. He was never reconciled with the official church, and from 1909 to 1932 he held the chair of history of religions at the Collège de France. He also taught at the École pratique des hautes études and at the Faculty of Letters of the University of Paris, and was made an officer of the Legion of Honour in 1932. Provided by Wikipedia