German cardinal and Jesuit. Distinguished scholar at the Pontifical Gregorian University specializing in biblical studies and archeology. He also served as the personal confessor of Pope Pius XII.
 
SP - Signed black/white litho print photo-postcard: measure 4”x5.5”. Signed on the lower white mount (some blur to his signature which is typical — may have been left-handed).
 
Bea was made a cardinal in 1959 by John XXIII and served as the first president of the Secretariat for Promoting Christian Unity (1960 until his death).  He was a leading biblical scholar and ecumenist, who greatly influenced Christian-Jewish relations during the Second Vatican Council in the encyclical Nostra aetate. He published several books, mostly in Latin, as well as 430 articles.