Anton Josef Gruscha

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Anton Joseph Cardinal Gruscha, Prince Archbishop of Vienna
Cardinal coat of arms

Anton Josef Cardinal Gruscha (born November 3, 1820 in Vienna ; † August 5, 1911 at Schloss Kranichberg , Kirchberg am Wechsel , Lower Austria ) was the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Vienna .

Life

After the son of a craftsman had successfully passed the Matura ( Abitur ), Gruscha studied Catholic theology at the University of Vienna . He was ordained a priest on May 4, 1843 at the age of 23 . As a priest he worked in pastoral care for several years . During this time he completed his doctoral studies and graduated in 1849 with the title Dr. theol. from.

From 1848 Gruscha was also the spokesman for a Christian popular movement in Vienna. He vehemently advocated a free church and therefore founded several Catholic journeyman's and master's associations from 1852 together with Adolph Kolping .

In 1851 Gruscha was appointed professor at the Theresianum . He held this position until 1856. In December 1855 he was appointed cathedral preacher at St. Stephen's Cathedral. As such, he taught pastoral theology at the University of Vienna. In 1862 he became professor for moral theology . In 1871 the cathedral chapter elected Gruscha as a member.

Further stages of the career was in 1878 the appointment as Apostolic Field Vicar and Titular Bishop of Carrhae . The Archbishop of Vienna, Johann Rudolf Kutschker , donated him his episcopal ordination on April 28th, 1878. On January 24th, 1890 he was appointed Archbishop of Vienna and confirmed by the Pope on June 23rd of the same year, after he had held this office in 1881 after his death Cardinal Kutschkers had been offered. The inauguration took place on July 6, 1890. In the consistory on June 1, 1891 he was by Pope Leo XIII. accepted into the college of cardinals as cardinal priest . At the same time, Emperor Franz-Joseph also awarded him the Grand Cross of the Leopold Order . He also became a prelate of the order. The Pope gave him the titular church of Santa Maria degli Angeli on December 17th of the same year.

As a member of the Austrian mansion , Gruscha always voted against liberalism ; but above all against the state church .

In the last years of his life he was almost blind and deaf. From 1905 he supported his Vicar General Godfried Marschall and from 1910 to Koadjutorerzbischof appointed Franz Xaver Nagl . In his last pastoral letter of March 19, 1911, he dealt with the labor question for the only time .

At the age of 90, Cardinal Anton Joseph Gruscha died on August 5, 1911 in Kranichberg Castle near Kirchberg am Wechsel in Lower Austria. Since 1912 the Gruschaplatz in Vienna's 14th district of Penzing has been a reminder of Anton Gruscha.

With an annual income of 116,437 crowns , he was the 740th richest Viennese in 1910.

literature

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Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Calendar. In:  Die Presse , January 25, 1891, p. 11 (online at ANNO ).Template: ANNO / maintenance / apr
  2. ↑ (pastoral letter) .. In:  Vorarlberger Landes-Zeitung , May 13, 1911, p. 2 (online at ANNO ). Se. Your Eminence Cardinal Archbishop Dr. Gruscha has issued a pastoral letter that deals primarily with the working class, which, as the pastoral letter explains, has threatened greater dangers for some time. Proud, unchristian doctrines are to blame for the conditions that the working-class population lament today, which are spread by so-called popular happinessers under the captivating name of humanity. The Catholic religion deserves to be called a benefactor of the workers because it makes work easier. A true Christian regards work as the means by which, in addition to the daily bread, he can earn eternal life. Through the requirement of Sunday and holiday celebrations, through the prospect of the appropriate wages and God's blessing, religion makes work easier. But it also offers protection for the income from work by discouraging indulgence and encouraging frugality. Finally religion keep the worker upright in days of distress. The words of the pastoral letter apply not only to the workers in the narrower sense, but also to everyone, the workers are in the household of the highest employer, our Lord and God. “You, to whom Providence has given an excellent profession in the eyes of the world,” says the pastoral letter, “show sincere love and sympathy for the workers, for they are children of the same Father with you. Make particular efforts to give the workers an example of faithful fulfillment of religious duties. Think of the day of account, when the eternal judge will reward everyone according to his works. "Template: ANNO / Maintenance / vlz
  3. ↑ Roman Sandgruber : Dreamtime for Millionaires. The 929 richest Viennese in 1910. Styria Premium, Graz 2013, ISBN 978-3-222-13405-0 , p. 352 .
personal data
SURNAME Gruscha, Anton Josef
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Gruscha, Anton Joseph; Gruscha, Anton Josef Cardinal
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Austrian Archbishop, Cardinal
DATE OF BIRTH November 3, 1820
PLACE OF BIRTH Vienna
DATE OF DEATH August 5, 1911
Place of death Kranichberg Castle , Lower Austria