VACANT, ALFRED

VACANT, ALFRED. - Theologian, b. Feb. 23, 1852 at Morfontaine (Meurthe-Moselle), d. Apr. 2, 1901 at Nancy. Ordained priest in 1876 and doctor of theology in 1880, he taught at the Seminary of Nancy from 1876 to 1901 and in 1900 was named its rector. A valued contributor to journals and dictionaries, he is associated with the Dictionnaire de théologie catholique, which he conceived and of which he was the first director. He envisaged it less as an up-to-date survey of names and bibliographical data than as an instrument for scientific progress in the field of ecclesiastical disciplines. Nevertheless, in his articles, which tend toward popularization, he avoids drawing conclusions. His numerous works on specific topics include: De certitudine iudicii quo assertitur existentia revelationis (Nancy 1878); De nostra naturali cognitione Dei (ibid. 1879); Études comparées sur la philosophie de St Thomas d'Aquin et sur celle de Dieu Scot (Paris 1891); Histoire de la conception du sacrifice de la Messe dans l'Église latine (ibid. 1894); his most important work: Étude théologique sur les constitutions du Concile du Vatican, constitution «Dei Filius» (2 vols., ibid. 1895). In his conclusions he is cautious, but his criticism is rather deficient and his exegesis outdated. Dependent on Vigouroux, he is too concerned to find complete agreement between science and faith even in the smallest details.