Franz-Ludwig Mersy

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Franz-Ludwig Mersy (born November 29, 1785 in Weingarten near Durlach ( Baden ), † August 12, 1843 in Offenburg ) was a Catholic priest and theologian.

Short biography

Franz Ludwig Mersy had been a high school teacher in Bruchsal since November 1, 1807 and was ordained a priest in 1810 . His first pastor was in Erzingen in 1813 . In 1819 he became the sovereign dean . In 1825 he was appointed to the clerical council at the episcopal ordinariate in Bruchsal . Here he remained active until its abolition. In 1827 he took over the St. Paul parish in Bruchsal as pastor. From April 1, 1830, until his death on August 12, 1843, he performed his pastoral service in Offenburg and at the same time had to fill the office of district school inspector.

Active Catholic church reformer

During his time as Offenburg city pastor, Mersy was one of the city's liberal reformists. He was one of the southwest German church reformers who called for liberal reforms within the Catholic Church. They demanded the convening of synods as co-determination bodies, the abolition of forced celibacy and a pastoral reform that should guarantee comprehensibility for all. The climax was the so-called celibacy storm by 162 clergymen from Baden, who in 1831 petitioned the Baden Second Chamber for the lifting of celibacy. Mersy became known beyond the city limits for his book: Are Reforms Necessary in the Catholic Church? How are they to be brought about, and what obstacles stand in the way? answered in the pastoral conference of the district of Offenburg on July 24th, 1832. The participants of the conference make it clear in the Scriptures that it is “an indispensable duty” of the church to reform itself in the liturgy and the external forms and customs. The result of the conference is summarized in 16 points. It calls for a German ritual , the restriction of pilgrimages , the reduction of the Marian festivals , the abolition of the mass grants . The actual explosive device is in the statements in which the celibacy law is described as "unnatural and unbearable".

The Archdiocese of Freiburg responded with a sharp rejection. The Offenburg script reached Rome. Pope Gregory XVI was forced to take a position on the reform writing. He describes the statements as "the most shameful conspiracy against the celibacy law". On October 4, 1833, the writing came on the index (see encyclical Quo graviora of 1833, Pope Gregory XVI. ).

Mersy wrote a later memorandum under the title: The Diocesan Synod in the Archdiocese of Freiburg , a response to the writing of Dr. Drey: “What should we think of synods in our time?” (1835). The diocesan synod was at the request of Gregory XVI. carried out (soa encyclical) and should demonstrate or restore church authority .

In 1843, under pressure from the Archbishop of Freiburg, Franz Ludwig Mersy had to resign from the editorial office of the ecumenical journal "Badisches Kirchenblatt", which was published together with three Protestant pastors (since August 16, 1834). However, he continued to write various articles under his name.

Judgment of posterity

In the second half of the 19th century, the Catholic, ultramontane-tinged historiography broke away from the liberal ideas of the church reformers. Franz Ludwig Mersy's actions were described as "wild bustle", which had an "unfavorable influence" on the young clergy. He was denounced as a Freemason. Incidentally, the city of Offenburg is a brood nest of “revolutionary endeavors”, which in retrospect also proved to be true. - Between 1810 and 1813 Mersy was a member of the United Mannheim Freemason Lodge Carl zur Eintracht and Karl and Stephanie zu Harmonie .

When the grave of Dean Mersy in the old Offenburg cemetery was to be cleared in 1908, the Old Catholic community organized a public event about the importance of Franz Ludwig Mersy's reform proposals. Thereupon the grave was saved from destruction. It is still in the Waldbach cemetery in Offenburg today. In 2010 the grave was restored by the Förderkreis Historischer Waldbachfriedhof eV.

Since 1996 a street in Offenburg has been named after the dean Franz Ludwig Mersy.

swell

  • The reform efforts of Pastor Mersy and his friends , by Karl Jensch, in: Images from the history of the Catholic reform movement of the 18th and 19th centuries, ed. v. Johannes Rieks, First Series, Vol. 2, Mannheim 1876.
  • History of the deanery and the deacons of the rural and rural chapters , by Wilhelm Weiß, Offenburg 1895, p. 261 ff.
  • Badische Biographien , 2nd part, ed. v. Friedrich von Weech, Heidelberg 1875, p. 73.
  • Franz Ludwig Mersy. An Offenburg Wessenberg aftermath , in: ders., Otto Kähni (Ed.) Offenburg. Offenburg heads, Offenburg 1951, p. 135 ff.
  • The history of the sources and literature of Canon Law from Gratian to the present , by Dr. Johann Friedrich von Schulte, three volumes, published 2000, The Lawbook Exchange - Ltg., ISBN 1584770899
  • "... a shameful conspiracy against the celibacy law" - Biographical notes on the Reform Catholic Dean Franz Ludwig Mersy , by Wolfgang M. Gall, in: Die Ortenau, 77, 1997, pp. 431-440.

literature

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Mersy, Franz-Ludwig
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German theologian
DATE OF BIRTH November 29, 1785
PLACE OF BIRTH Vineyard
DATE OF DEATH August 12, 1843
Place of death Offenburg