Cornelio Fabro on Edith Stein

Cornelio Fabro’s writings on Edith Stein illuminate his understanding of Stein’s enduring contributions to debates about Thomism and Phenomenology.Joshua Furnal brings together, for the first time in the English language, a selection of works that are representative of Cornelio Fabro’s perspective on Edith Stein, offering a distinctive yet overlooked contribution to Stein studies. In his introduction, Furnal explores the impact of Edith Stein’s writings on Fabro’s stance toward the phenomenological tradition. Fabro’s engagement with phenomenology first surfaced in 1941 when he published two books simultaneously: Perception and Thought and The Phenomenology of Perception. Subsequently, his engagement with Stein’s philosophical writings first appeared in publications from 1949 to 1951, and then again in 1969, 1978, and 1989 in relation to her beatification process. Fabro’s significance to Stein studies is due not only to his involvement in writing the dossier that facilitated her beatification process at the Vatican, but also to his appreciation for her existential approach to the relationship between faith and reason—which led her to martyrdom. As a Thomist and priest, Fabro viewed Stein as an important philosopher in her own right and saw a meaningful link between his Stigmatine formation and Stein’s spirituality. The volume introduces Fabro’s understanding of Stein’s philosophy and sainthood, and the broader issues at the intersection of their thought.