Johann Baptist Metz

Johann Baptist Metz (1928–2019) was a German Catholic theologian and a founder of the New Political Theology. Ordained a priest in 1954, he became professor of fundamental theology at the University of Münster in 1963, where he taught for around 30 years. He co-founded the international journal Concilium and shaped the debate on a “theology after Auschwitz.” In his concept of a “mysticism of open eyes,” he combined passion for God with sensitivity to the suffering of others. Metz received the Buber-Rosenzweig Medal in 2002 and the Order of Merit of North Rhine-Westphalia in 2018.