RUCH, CHARLES. - Theologian and bishop, b. at Nancy on 24 Sept. 1873, d. at Strasbourg on the night before 29 Aug. 1945.
Ordained priest in 1897, the following year he began teaching dogmatic theology at the seminary of Nancy; through particular investigations into the historical development of dogma, he gave positive substance to the theses of scholastic theology, especially those concerning the Sacraments. The mature fruit of this work consists in the extensive articles Confirmation, Eucharistie dans l'Écriture, Extrême Onction, Messe dans l'Écriture et dans les Pères jusqu'à 1er Irénée, published in the DThC. Vicar general and coadjutor of his bishop, Msgr. Turinaz (1907-14), military chaplain during the war (1914-18), he succeeded him in 1918. Transferred to Strasbourg at the delicate moment of Alsace’s return to France, Msgr. R. with tenacious prudence established himself as the defender of the region’s finest religious traditions; in the war of 1939-45 he combined a fervent patriotic spirit with the exercise of charity.