The Legacy of Pierre Charles, S.J.

Abstract

P Charles was born in Brussels on July 3, 1883. He became a Jesuit on September 23, 1899, and was ordained to the priesthood on August 24, 1910. He died at Louvain, the principal and final scene of his activities, on February 11, 1954. Father Charles was of medium height, but solidly built and with broad shoulders. Throughout his entire life, and especially during the years of his priestly life, he resolutely arose before dawn and retired late at night, devoting all his time to study, prayer, and human associations. His understanding of the needs of both church and world grew within the context of wide schol­ arship, served by a prodigious memory and supported by a quick and subtle intelligence. He was a who looked intently at people and things from under large, bushy eyebrows and through thick eyeglasses. That, however, was his only myopia. One who attempts to sketch the main characteristics of Pierre Charles's personality should begin by noting the expansiveness of his outlook and of his intellectual and religious horizons. He was wondrously interested in the world. Chesterton would have called him a man alive, and indeed he shared some of Chesterton's own humorous and paradoxical nature. Born in a small country, he relished every opportunity throughout his life to travel beyond its borders.