In Memoriam of Cardinal Cottier

On March 31, 2016, Cardinal Georges Cottier (whom everyone continued to call “Father Cottier”), the director of Nova et Vetera since the death of Cardinal Journet in 1975, died unexpectedly from a pulmonary embolism less than a month before his ninety-fourth birthday. For his friends, he was an always available source of light, absolutely sharp until his dying day, so that one never truly imagined that he could pass away. The readers of Nova et Vetera are in profound mourning, illumined by hope. This mourning touches not only our readers but also the innumerable and widely varied persons who have always been able to benefit from his listening and from his wisdom.

In Nova et Vetera’s April–June 1975 issue, Father Cottier said with regard to Cardinal Journet: “Until the last moment … he worked for Nova et Vetera.” What Father Cottier said about the founder and first director (1926–1975) of our journal is true also of its second director (1975–2016). Both of them showed, in this beautiful work, their passion for truth and their love of human beings, in whom it is necessary to stir up a thirst for truth that is desire for God. Both of them enjoyed the grace of retaining their whole power of mind—their great mind—until their final day, and this grace of theirs was given also for us: we give thanks to the Lord!

In the brief announcement of the death of Cardinal Journet, Father Cottier also said:

Moreover, Cardinal Journet never retired from Nova et Vetera. … A forthcoming issue of Nova et Vetera will try to give an idea of the richness and fecundity of an oeuvre that is considerable both in quantity and in quality. If our sorrow is great, we remain at peace, because of the light that our beloved father and teacher has left us. And without doubt it is not rash to think that from his “eternal Country,” to which he so greatly aspired, he continues to assist us.

I am certain that I am not alone in thinking that this text applies henceforth also to its author (even to a practical point: the next issue of the Swiss edition of Nova et Vetera will be devoted to him). As I have said and will say again, I wish for the beatification of our two successive directors.