Academic Career
Bertrand de Margerie was born in 1923, in Paris, to a family of diplomats. His grandfather and brother Emmanuel represented France in the United States at both ends of the twentieth century. His brother was also ambassador to London and his father was ambassador to the Holy See. He entered the Society of Jesus in 1946 and was ordained a priest in 1956. After his studies in Europe he spent about twelve years in Brazil and in the United States, teaching theology or writing about it. He has a doctorate in theology from the Gregorian University in Rome, with a thesis on the German-American Protestant theologian Reinhold Niebuhr and his thought on world temporal community. Father de Margerie has published about twenty books, particulary on the Sacraments of Penance and the Eucharist. He is a member of the French and American Societies of Marian Studies, of the International Society of Patristic Studies (he has also published four volumes on Patristic exegesis, describing the specific exegetical method of about twenty-five Greek and Latin Fathers of the Church), and of the Pontifical Roman Academy of St. Thomas Aquinas, Rome. He has collaborated many times with the L’Osservatore Romano. Pope Paul VI, in an audience of March 1972, quoted his book on Christ for the World (L’Oss. Rom., 30 March 1972) later published in English by the Franciscan Herald Press (Chicago, 1974). He now resides in Paris.

Promotion of the book: “Heart of Mary, Heart of the Church”
This short book an the Heart of Mary wants to link a topic dear to many Catholics, particularly to the pilgrims of Fatima, with the understanding, shared by a good number of Russian Orthodox and Latin theologians, of the mission of Mary in the Church: that she is the Heart of the Mystical Body of Christ. This link is considered in the context of each one of the events and the states of life in which the Holiness of Mary was manifested and developed: Virgin, Wife, Mother, Widow. They are contemplated in the light of  (apostolic and ecclesiastical) Tradition, Holy Scripture and the Magisterium. Particular attention is given to the abundant teachings of Pope Pius XII and John Paul II when commenting upon the presentation of Mary by the Vatican Council II. The author – a member of the American and French Societies of Marian Studies – has had recourse to the rich works of the international mariological congresses, whose member he has been on different occasions, and to the different liturgies of the Church in the East and in the West. Readers of his works will deepen their knowledge both of the Church and of Mary. Without the Church, we would not know Mary; without knowledge of Mary, our understanding of the Mystery of the Church becomes truncated.

Diplomas
Diploma in law and philosophy; Doctor in Theology, the Gregorian University, Rome. Member of the Pontifical Academy of St. Thomas Aquinas, of the International Patristic Society, and of the Mariological Societies of America and France.

Publications
English Christ for the World, Sacraments and Social Progress, Theological Retreat (Chicago: Franciscan Herald Press, 1974, 1975); Remarried Divorcees and Eucharistic Communion (Boston: St. Paul Books and Media, 1980); The Human Knowledge of Christ (Boston, St. Paul Books & Media, 1980; The Christian Trinity in History (Petersham, Mass: St. Bede’s Publications, 1983); Heart of Mary, Heart of the Church (Washington, N.J., 1992); Daily Communion and Frequent Confession (Dublin: Four Courts Press, 1992). French Le Cœur de Marie, coeur de l’Eglise (Paris: Lethielleux, 1967); Le Christ pour le monde (Paris: Beauchesne, 1971); Prix Montyon de l’Académie Français, 1971; Reinhold Niebuhr, théologien de la communauté mondiale (Paris: DDB, 1969), coll. Musaeum Lessianum; La Trinité chrétienne dans l’histoire (Paris: Beauchesne, 1975), coll. “Bibl. de théol. Historique”, vol.31; Sacrements et développement intégral (Paris: Téqui, 1977), Prix Trubert de l’Académie Français, 1978; Les Divorcés remariés face à l’Eucharistie (Paris, Téqui, 1979); Vers la plénitude de la communion (Paris: Téqui, 1980); Retraite théologiquie (Montsurs: Résiac, 1981); Les Perfections du Dieu de Jésus-Christ (Paris: Cerf, 1981); S’ouvrir à la miséricordie. Le sacrament de Pénitence (Paris: Fac, 1982); with P. Tonet; Introduction à l’histoire de l’exégèse: I Les Pères grecs et orientaux (Paris: Cerf, 1980); II Les Premiers Grands Exégètes Latins (Paris: Cerf, 1983); III Saint Augustin (Paris: Cerf, 1983); IV Occident latin, de Léon à Bernard (199?); La Liberté religieuse et le règne du Christ (Paris: Cerf, 1988); Communion quotidienne et confession fréquente”, Montsurs: Résiac) – Ecône: comment dénouer la tragédie? (Paris: Téqui, 1988); Vous ferez ceci en Mémorial de Moi (Paris: Beauchesne, 1989), coll. “Bibl. de théol. historique”; Du confessional en littérature, Huit écrivains français devant le sacrement de pénitence (Paris: ed. Saint-Paul et Fac, 1989); Mystere des Indulgences (Paris: Lethielleux, 1999); Histoire Doctrinale du culte envers le coeur de Jésus, t. I, Lumières sur l’Amour: Mame, Paris 1992; t. II L’Amour devenu lumière, Ed. Saint-Paul, Paris 1995; Les Pères commentetnt le Credo, Cerf, Paris 2000; Ambassadeur du Christ (autobiographie) Paris, 1997. Spanish Cristo, vida del mundo, (Madrid: BAC, 1974). Portuguese Igreja em Estado de dialogo (Manhumirim: O Lutador, 1965); Padres, Profetas e Mistagogos (Sao Paulo: Ed. Paulinas, 1968); Cristo para o Mundo (Sao Paulo: Herder, 1972); Sacramentos e Desenvolvimento Integral (Sao Paulo: Ed. Loyola, 1974).