MERSCH, EMILE. - Jesuit theologian, born on July 30, 1890, in Marche (Belgian Luxembourg), died on May 23, 1940, in Lens (France). In 1920, he became a professor of philosophy at Namur, remaining there until 1935. Though contrary to his inclinations, he fulfilled this teaching role with commitment, resulting in the noteworthy volume *L'obligation morale principe de liberté* (Louvain 1927) and several articles.
From his student days, he had conceived a vast theological synthesis in the light of the Mystical Body: his entire life was devoted to realizing this project. After a decade of meticulous research (following the rigorous method of Fr. De Ghellinck), he completed the work that would bring him widespread fame: *Le corps mystique de Christ, Etudes de théologie historique* (2 vols., Louvain 1933), which saw a second edition in 1936 and an English translation in the United States (Milwaukee 1938). With extraordinary erudition, he traced the historical-doctrinal development of the Mystical Body, from its earliest hints in the Old Testament to its latest expressions in ecclesiastical magisterium. To these volumes, in large part, is owed the current fervor of positive research on the subject.
But this work was merely a stage toward his goal, which he reached through personal meditations reflected in many brilliant articles published in the *Nouvelle revue théologique* and elsewhere. Struck while exercising priestly charity during an aerial bombardment, he demonstrated that he had lived what he taught in the posthumous work *La théologie du corps mystique* (2 vols., Louvain 1946), which stamps the valiant author with the unmistakable character of a theologian of the Mystical Body. One may disagree with certain points of Mersch’s positions, but one cannot overlook this powerful synthesis, which is a new sign of the vitality of Catholic theology.
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