Anastasius Hartmann

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Bishop Anastasius Hartmann

Anastasius Hartmann OFMCap (born February 24, 1803 in Altwis , Canton Lucerne , as Joseph Alois Hartmann ; † April 24, 1866 in Kurji near Patna , India ) was a Swiss Capuchin , missionary in India, titular bishop and apostolic vicar of Patna and Bombay .

Live and act

Capuchins in Switzerland

He was born in Altwis, the son of the farmer Joseph Hartmann and his wife Barbara geb. Nietlisbach and baptized the day after his birth in the local parish church in Hitzkirch .

He attended high school in Solothurn and entered the novitiate of the Capuchin Order in Baden in Aargau on September 17, 1821 . In 1822 he took his vows and was ordained a priest on September 24, 1825. Until 1830 he worked as a pastor in Lucerne, then as a novice master and teacher of theology in Freiburg in the Üechtland . On July 18, 1829, he stopped at the public execution of Elisabetha Müller on the execution site outside of Lucerne, the state speech . In 1839 he was sent to Solothurn as a philosophy teacher. He felt a strong desire to go to the overseas missions, which he achieved only after a long hesitation of his superiors.

Missionary in India

In September 1841 Hartmann left Switzerland and moved to Rome on foot. There, however, the general held him back to train other missionaries. It was not until 1843 that he was assigned to the Agra Mission in India. After only five months he was head of the mission station in the city of Gwalior , in today's Madhya Pradesh .

Vicar Apostolic and Bishop

Bishop Anastasius Hartmann

In September 1845, Pope Gregory XVI appointed the Swiss Capuchin as Vicar Apostolic of Patna and Titular Bishop of Derbe , the episcopal ordination took place in Agra on March 15, 1846, by the Vicar Apostolic Father Anthony Borghi, O.Carm. When he took office, Hartmann's district consisted of only seven parishes which were looked after by four priests. He worked with great zeal and under the most difficult circumstances.

From August 16, 1849, Anastasius Hartmann was also entrusted, as administrator, with the incomparably more important Vicariate of Bombay , in which, in addition to the arduous and grueling missionary work, there were also internal church difficulties. The entire west coast of India was involved in a church dispute between the Portuguese bishops who were historically responsible there and the Vicars Apostolic later appointed by Rome, which finally culminated in the so-called Goanese Schism . From the beginning of the 18th century the Portuguese bishops were mostly unable to reach and supervise their dioceses for political reasons, which is why the Propaganda Congregation in Rome sought a pastoral solution and had these areas administered on an interim basis by apostolic vicars of other nationalities, until 1838 Pope Gregory XVI. These vicars even finally granted full jurisdiction under canon law and abolished the old Portuguese bishoprics. Portugal did not accept the decision and sent counter-bishops, which resulted in a fateful double jurisdiction, in the course of which the Portuguese bishops tried again and again to displace those appointed by Rome from parishes and mission stations. That situation was one of the main problems Anastasius Hartmann faced in his time as Vicar Apostolic of Bombay.

In addition, the Swiss tried to improve pastoral care and to firmly establish the Catholic Church in the important city. In 1850, Bishop Hartmann called the "Bombay Examiner" into being as his mouthpiece , the oldest Catholic newspaper in India that still exists today. He established new parishes and schools, tirelessly toured his diocese over long and impassable stretches.

On July 9, 1854, Anastasius Hartmann received a successor as Apostolic Vicar of Patna in the person of the Austrian Athanasius Zuber (1824–1872). From this year Hartmann officiated exclusively as Vicar Apostolic of Bombay. On March 8, 1854, he had given his coadjutor there , the later Cardinal Ignatius Persico, the episcopal ordination, as well as on May 15, 1853, the new Apostolic Vicar of Mangalore , Father Michael Anthony Anfossi .

In 1856 Anastasius Hartmann resigned from his post due to health problems and visited Europe. In his home country as well as in France and England he promoted the cause of the Indian Church. When he was in Paris, he frequented St. Peter Julian Eymard , who was just founding his Order of the Eucharist . Bishop Hartmann undertook the first solemn exposure of the Sacrament of the Altar for adoration in the newly established religious house on January 6, 1857 . Later the Swiss was used as the mission secretary of the Capuchins in Rome. His practical experience from India made him a specialist and contributed decisively to the innovation of the missionary work of his order; He was also highly valued as an advisor in the Vatican.

In 1860 Athanasius Zuber, Hartmann's episcopal successor in Patna, resigned due to illness and the Swiss was appointed to this office for the second time on January 24th of that year. He again served as Vicar Apostolic with great skill and zeal, but suffered greatly from his weakened health. In negotiations with the English colonial government he succeeded in improving the position of the Catholic Church in all of India; especially with regard to church marriage practice and the position of Catholic field chaplains in the English colonial troops.

Bishop Anastasius Hartmann died of cholera on April 24, 1866 in Kurji, St. Joseph's Orphanage (near Patna), where his residence was at that time . He had a reputation for holiness. He was buried in the (old) cathedral of Patna , soon after in the St. Joseph's Church in Bankipore. In 1886 the Apostolic Vicariate of Patna was dissolved, converted into the diocese of Allahabad and the official seat moved to this city. That is why Hartmann's remains were transferred to Allahabad in 1920 , where they now rest in front of the right side altar of St. Joseph's Cathedral.

Adoration

As early as 1906, the dioceses of Allahabad and Basel jointly initiated the beatification process of Bishop Hartmann, in the course of which a great deal of material was collected about the missionary pioneer. After a positive conclusion at the diocesan level, the cause was handed over to Rome. On December 21, 1998, Pope John Paul II recognized the heroic degree of virtue of his life and awarded him the title of “ Venerable Servant of God ”.

literature

  • Anastasius Hartmann: Autobiography of Anastasius Hartmann (1803–1866), the Swiss Capuchin, titular bishop of Derbe and apostolic vicar of Patna in India (= Helvetia Franciscana. Supplement 4, ZDB -ID 2483169-4 ). German translation by Engelbert Ming based on the Latin text in the tradition by Anton Maria Gachet according to published by Adelhelm Jann. Provincialate of the Swiss Capuchins, Lucerne 2003.
  • Anastasius Hartmann: About the church conditions in India , separate print from the Augsburger Postzeitung , 1858; Complete scan of the brochure
  • Adrian Imhof: Anastasius Hartmann, a picture of life and time from the nineteenth century. Räber & C., Lucerne 1903.
  • Adelhelm Jann: Bishop Anastasius Hartmann's collection of files on a history of the Capuchin missions in Tibet, Nepal and Hindustan. Fidelis, Lucerne 1925.
  • Anton Maria Gachet: The last hours and the funeral of the Servant of God Bishop Anastasius Hartmann. 5th edition. Self-published by the Vice Postulation - Capuchin Monastery, Stans 1943.
  • Adelhelm Jann (ed.): The letters of the Servant of God Bishop Anastasius Hartmann to his relatives. 2nd increased edition. Self-published by the Vice Postulation - Capuchin Monastery, Stans 1943.
  • Walbert Bühlmann: pioneer of unity. Bishop Anastasius Hartmann (= Franciscan Life Pictures 7). Thomas-Verlag et al., Zurich et al. 1966.
  • Erich Eberle: Anastasius Hartmann. A great missionary bishop from the Capuchin order. 9th edition. Kanisius-Verlag, Freiburg (Switzerland) 1974, ISBN 3-85764-016-2 .
  • Fulgentius Vannini: Bishop Hartmann. Indian press, 1946.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Stand speech after the execution Elisabetha Müller von Ebikon, spoken at the place of execution outside Lucerne, the 18th month of the year 1829, by P. Anastasius, Capuchin. Retrieved March 22, 2020 .
  2. ↑ Sevartham (Journal), St. Alberts College Ranchi, Volume 22, page 64; Excerpt from the source
  3. ^ Website of the Indian Bishops' Conference on the history of the Archdiocese of Bombay ( Memento of December 11, 2011 in the Internet Archive )
  4. ↑ To the Bombay Examiner, with the year of establishment
  5. ^ Anton Huonder: Standard bearer of the cross. Herder Verlag, Freiburg 1915, pp. 146 and 147.
  6. ^ Website of the Eucharistines; to Bishop Hartmann in the last chapter "Dates for the 150th anniversary of the founding of the Eucharist"
  7. ↑ Anton Huonder SJ: “Bannerträger des Kreuzes” , Herder Verlag, Freiburg, 1915, page 179
  8. ^ Fulgentius Vannini: Bishop Hartmann. St. Paul Publications, 1966, p. 308, excerpt from the source .
  9. ^ Website on the history of the Vicariate of Patna and the resulting diocese of Allahabad
  10. ^ Official website of the Diocese of Allahabad; the Holy Sepulcher of Bishop Hartmann (St. Joseph`s Cathedral) top right
  11. ↑ On the initiation of the beatification process ( Memento of March 9, 2006 in the Internet Archive )
personal data
SURNAME Hartmann, Anastasius
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Joseph Alois Hartmann (maiden name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Swiss Capuchin, Titular Bishop, Vicar Apostolic of Bombay and Patna
DATE OF BIRTH February 24, 1803
PLACE OF BIRTH Altwis , Switzerland
DATE OF DEATH April 24, 1866
Place of death Kurji near Patna , India