Alfred Joseph Koch
Alfred (Joseph) Koch OSB (born October 19, 1879 in Arzheim , Palatinate , Kingdom of Bavaria; † November 7, 1951 in St. Vincent Archabbey, Latrobe , Westmoreland County , Pennsylvania ) was a Benedictine and archabbot of the Archabbey of St. Vincent in Pennsylvania , UNITED STATES.
Life
Joseph Koch was born in Arzheim in southern Palatinate and was ordained a priest on February 24, 1904. First he was Regens of the Diocesan Seminary in Nepi and Sutri near Rome, and later Chancellor of the Catholic University of Beijing . He then moved to the United States, where he entered the Benedictine Archabbey of St. Vincent in Latrobe, Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania , about 40 miles west of Pittsburgh , and soon became rector of the abbey's St. Vincent College. He made his monastic profession in St. Vincent on August 26, 1917. The obituary describes Koch as a master in 8 languages and a teacher of Holy Scripture, hermeneutics , eloquence and catechetics .
After the death of Archabbot Aurelius Stehle , 137 capitulars elected Father Alfred Koch as his successor and 5th Archabbot of St. Vincent on April 23, 1930. After the papal confirmation of the election on April 26, his benediction could take place on June 10, 1930. The Archabbey of St. Vincent is the oldest Benedictine abbey in USA, founded by Bavarian Benedictines under Archabbot Bonifaz Wimmer . During Koch's tenure, his colleague and abbey enjoyed an enormous upswing and he brought German Benedictine nuns from Eichstätt to help with the budget . Pope Pius XII honored him on May 2, 1946 with the right to wear the Cappa Magna .
In the time of need after the Second World War, he zealously supported his home diocese of Speyer and his birthplace Arzheim. Koch remained Archabbot until 1949 and died in his abbey on November 7, 1951. Four bishops, 13 Benedictine abbots, 400 priests and more than 1000 other mourners attended his funeral. His home diocese of Speyer dedicated a detailed obituary to him in its diocese newspaper “ Der Pilger ” under the title: “A great son of his native Palatinate”, the diocesan priest necrology of Speyer also lists him. The "Lexicon of Palatinate Personalities" describes Archabbot Koch as an "internationally known, Catholic priest and educator who ran schools on 3 continents." In his home town of Landau- Arzheim , the "Erzabt-Josef-Koch-Strasse" is named after the Benedictine.
literature
- Obituary in “ Der Pilger ”, Speyer, No. 15, from 1952, page 236 of the year.
- “Lexicon of Palatinate Personalities”, Viktor Carl, 3rd edition 2004, Hennig Verlag Edenkoben, page 464
Web links
- Website of the Benedictine Abbey or the Benedictine College of St. Vincent, Latrobe, Pennsylvania, with a section on Archabbot Alfred Joseph Koch ( Memento from December 18, 2008 in the Internet Archive )
- Website of the Benedictine nuns, Alfred Joseph Koch, who were called to the USA by Archabbot Koch, is mentioned in the text
- Website of the Catholic Fujen University, formerly Beijing, now Hong Kong; about Archabbot Koch in the section "Transfer of Supervision from Benedictines to SVD"
- Koch, Alfred , in: Biographia Benedictina (Benedictine Biography), Version from September 20, 2011, URL: http://www.benediktinerlexikon.de/wiki/Koch,_Alfred
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Koch, Alfred Joseph |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Koch, Joseph (maiden name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Priest, Benedictine abbot |
| DATE OF BIRTH | October 19, 1879 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Arzheim |
| DATE OF DEATH | November 7, 1951 |
| Place of death | Latrobe, Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania , USA |