Benno Gut

Benno Walter Gut, O.S.B. (1 April 1897 – 8 December 1970) was a Swiss Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship in the Roman Curia from 1969 until his death, and was elevated to the cardinalate in 1967.

His Eminence Benno Gut O.S.B.
Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship
Church	Roman Catholic Church
Appointed	8 May 1969
Term ended	8 December 1970
Predecessor	Arcadio María Larraona Saralegui
Successor	Arturo Tabera Araoz
Other posts	Cardinal-Deacon of San Giorgio in Velabro (1967–70)
Orders
Ordination	10 July 1921
Consecration	18 June 1967 by Eugène-Gabriel-Gervais-Laurent Tisserant
Created cardinal	26 June 1967 by Pope Paul VI
Rank	Cardinal-Deacon
Personal details
Birth name	Walter Gut
Born	1 April 1897 Reiden, Basel, Switzerland
Died	8 December 1970 (aged 73) Rome, Italy
Buried	Maria Einsiedeln
Previous post	Abbot Ordinary of Maria Einsiedeln (1947–59) President of the Benedictine Congregation of Switzerland (1947–59) Abbot Primate of the Benedictine Confederation of the Order of Saint Benedict (1959–67) Titular Archbishop of Thuccabora (1967) Prefect of the Congregation for Rites (1968–69) President of the Consilium for Implementing the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy (1968–69)
Alma mater	University of Basel Pontifical Biblical Institute
Motto	Gaudete in Domino semper
Coat of arms

Styles of Benno Gut
Reference style	His Eminence
Spoken style	Your Eminence
Informal style	Cardinal
See	none

Biography

Born in Reiden, Walter Gut entered the Order of Saint Benedict at Einsiedeln Abbey, taking the name of Benno, which was the name of the abbey's rector, upon his profession on 6 January 1918. He studied at the Einsiedeln Abbey College, Musical Conservatory of Basel, University of Basel, and International College of Saint Anselm and Pontifical Biblical Institute in Rome. Ordained to the priesthood on 10 July 1921, Gut finished his studies in 1923 and then did pastoral work at Einsiedeln Abbey until 1930.

Gut taught at his alma mater of the International College of Saint Anselm in Rome from 1930 to 1939, at which time he became a professor at the Einsiedeln Abbey College. On 15 April 1947 he was elected Abbot of Einsiedeln, receiving the traditional episcopal benediction of new abbots from Archbishop Filippo Bernardini on the following 5 May. Gut was elected as the fourth Abbot Primate of the Benedictine Confederation, and thus head of the Benedictine order, on 24 September 1959. From 1962 to 1965 he attended the Second Vatican Council.

On 10 June 1967 Gut was appointed Titular Archbishop of Thuccabora by Pope Paul VI. He received his episcopal consecration eight days later, on 18 June, from Cardinal Eugène Cardinal Tisserant, with Bishops Joseph Hasler and Johannes Vonderach serving as co-consecrators, at Einsiedeln Abbey.

Pope Paul VI created him Cardinal Deacon of S. Giorgio in Velabro in the consistory of 26 June the same year in advance of naming him Prefect of Congregation of Rites on the following 29 June. Along with Prefect of Rites, Gut also assumed in 1968 the position of president of the consilium for liturgical reform, of which the Benedictine abbot was an advocate.[1] He later resigned as Abbot Primate of the Benedictine Confederation on 8 September 1967. With the dissolution of the Congregation of Rites, the Cardinal became Prefect of the newly established Congregation for Divine Worship on 7 May 1969.

Gut died in Rome, at age 73. He is buried in Einsiedeln Abbey.

References

1. TIME Magazine. Changing the Old Guard 19 January 1968

External links

• Catholic-Hierarchy
• Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church