“The Church in the Flesh” by Ida Friederike Görres

Ida who?? Ida Friederike Görres (1901–1971) was once a well-known Catholic author in German-speaking Europe, Britain, and the US. She authored numerous well-known books on the Church, the saints, and the “burden of belief” in the modern world. A prominent figure in the 20-century German Catholic Renewal, Görres received recognition for her insightful work from then-Father Joseph Ratzinger, who delivered the eulogy at her Requiem Mass. Görres, he said, possessed “an insightful certainty and a fearlessness about the pressing quest­ions and tasks of the Church today.”

Join Dr. Jennifer S. Bryson, the translator of Görres’ The Church in the Flesh from German to English, for a discussion of Görres’ life and her book. Ida Friederike Görres’ books will be on sale the night of the program.

This event will be offered both in-person and virtually through YouTube. Please RSVP today.

• 6:00 pm EDT: Talk (this portion will be offered virtually via the livestream)
• 7:00 pm EDT: Book signing and reception
• 8:00 pm EDT: Conclusion

Learn a little more about Görres before the event from Dr. Bryson’s recent essay at OnePeterFive: Ida Friederike Görres: A Forgotten Catholic Rediscovered.

About the Book:

The unhappy obverse to Romano Guardini’s observation in 1922 about “the awake­ning of the Church in souls,” is “the dying of the Church in souls.” The Church in the Flesh, written in 1950, offers a fervent treatment for the latter in both symptom and cause. Across six refreshingly candid “letters,” Ida Friederike Görres develops a conversation aimed at a clarified, renewed, and strengthened faith in Jesus Christ and His Church. Affirming truth and rejecting error, Görres explains the incarnate nature of the Church and the necessity of the sacraments; the historical reality of the Church and the persistence of Tradition; the simplicity of the reason to believe in the Church: namely, Jesus Christ, the One who issues the invitation to faith; the necessary “nuisance” of morality in the Church’s mission; the kingship of Christ as the basis for the Church’s triumphs and tribulations; and the saints as the living proof of God’s salvific power and purpose.

“Isn’t the “Faith of the Church” just as much a complete, embodied fact—in the flesh—as it is an “idea,” visible, even visible like a seal imprint in the wax of so-called raw and everyday reality?” -Ida Friederike Görres

“Görres possessed “an insightful certainty and a fearlessness about the pressing quest­ions and tasks of the Church today” – Fr. Joseph Ratzinger (Pope Benedict XVI)

In an elegant English translation (for the first time) by Jennifer S. Bryson, The Church in the Flesh embodies that clear and courageous conviction in presenting the saving truths incarnated in the Church.