Georges Cottier
Georges Marie Martin Cottier O.P., (25 April 1922 – 31 March 2016) was a Swiss Cardinal of the Catholic Church, Archbishop, Dominican, Theologian emeritus of the Pontifical Household. Biography. Cottier was born in Carouge, Switzerland, joined the Dominican Order in 1945. Cottier studied theology and philosophy at the Pontificium Athenaeum Internationale Angelicum, the future Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas, "Angelicum" until 1952 obtaining a baccalaurate in philosophy and a licentiate in theology. While at the "Angelicum" he was ordained a priest in 1951. He was a professor at the Universities of Geneva and Fribourg. He became secretary of  the International Theological Commission in 1989. He was nominated Pro-Theologian of the Pontifical Household in 1990. He was appointed Titular Archbishop of Tullia in 2003 and consecrated on 20 October 2003. He was named Cardinal-Deacon of Santi Domenico e Sisto, the University Church of the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas, "Angelicum" by Pope John Paul II in the consistory of 21 October 2003. Having served 10 years as a cardinal-deacon, he was promoted to cardinal-priest by Pope Francis on 12 June 2014. Views. In the run-up to President Barack Obama's 10 July 2009  meeting with Pope Benedict XVI, Cottier praised Obama's “humble realism” in recognizing that the president's "words move in the direction of reducing the evil [of abortion]," and in this manner might align to the thinking of St. Thomas Aquinas and early Christian tradition in terms of framing laws in a pluralistic society. Cottier reacted to John Paul II's encyclical Ecclesia de Eucharistia by saying that the Catholic Church rejects the concept of open communion. Cottier defended the Church's view that the embryo is fully a human being. He came out in defense of Pope Pius XII  against those who continue to criticize his legacy. Cottier was critical of anonymous Christianity, saying that a theological system that absorbs all realities into Christ ends by turning Christ into a kind of metaphysical postulate of the affirmation of human values, which makes the Church incapable of engaging in serious dialogue, even on the level of human rights. Then, saying that everybody is already of Christ, whether they know it or not, can make the mission futile. Cottier said that the use of condoms may be morally licit in the context of fighting AIDS.