Isaac Thomas Hecker
Isaac Thomas Hecker (born December 18, 1819 in New York City , † December 22, 1888 there ) was an American Roman Catholic priest and people's missionary . He founded the community of missionary priests of St. Paul (Paulists). In 2008 the process of beatification was opened for him .
Life
youth
Hecker's parents Johann Jonas Hecker and Caroline geb. Friend were German immigrants. His father worked as a metal worker and mechanical engineer and went into business for himself in Lower Manhattan . Isaac was the youngest of their five children. When he was four years old, he was infected with smallpox . He said to his mother, who was worried about his life, "I will not die, because God has a task for me". The scars on his face marked him for life. He received his religious imprint primarily from his mother, who was a practicing Methodist and believed in America's special role in the plan of divine providence.
It was the time of the industrial revolution with its rapid economic growth, but also unlimited exploitation, especially of immigrants. Isaac began working at the age of twelve, initially in the printing press, then at 15 as a delivery boy in his older brothers' bakery. On his way he saw the physical and moral misery of the working class families. Like his brothers, he was involved in the “left”, anti- monopoly wing of the Democratic Party . However, the group failed due to internal party disputes. Then he met Orestes Brownson (1803–1876) and was fascinated by his socio-religious speeches and writings. Brownson remained decisive for his further path.
The search for his personal life task for God and his fellow human beings continued. He read the philosophers of German idealism Kant , Fichte and Hegel . Around the age of 24, intense mystical experiences and visions began , which at times made him fear for his sanity and impaired his ability to work.
On Brownson's advice, he joined the social-religious community at Brook Farm near Boston . There he worked in the bakery and at the same time deepened his education through intensive language, literature and music studies. Since he found no meaningfulness here either, he moved to Fruitlands and finally returned to his parents 'house and the brothers' bakery in the summer of 1843. His despair and inner loneliness grew, but also the confidence that it was God who called him. At the same time, in parallel with Brownson's development, he found access to organized religion and the church. When he made the decision to become a clergyman, he felt, according to self-testimony, an unprecedented inner peace.
Way to the Catholic Church
He still wavered between the Roman Catholic and the Episcopal Church . Archbishop John Joseph Hughes of New York looked more unwelcoming than welcoming. In May 1844 he went to Concord, Massachusetts to study ancient languages. There Brownson informed him in a letter that he, Brownson, was going to convert to the Catholic Church, and arranged for him to talk to the Boston coadjutor Bishop John Bernard Fitzpatrick . Hecker returned to New York, received convert lessons from Bishop John McCloskey and received conditional baptism on August 2, 1844 . However, he did not trust himself to work as a pastor . With the consent of Archbishop Hughes, he went to Belgium and entered the Redemptorist novitiate . He studied theology and received on October 23, 1849 in London by Archbishop Nicholas Wiseman , the ordination to the Redemptorist.
Redemptorist
The Order first sent him to Liverpool for urban missionary work . In 1851 he returned to New York, where a new Redemptorist branch was established. The four-person mission team he was now a part of was soon sought after by churches across America. Hecker was distinguished by spiritual experience, language skills and pastoral empathy, and thousands renewed their religious lives under his influence. Numerous conversions justified his hope to make the USA the leading Catholic country. He wrote several books in which he expounded the Catholic faith for American Protestants. The unreserved affirmation of democracy and freedom of belief contained therein posthumously earned him the temporary suspicion of theological " Americanism " on the part of the church, but makes him appear today as one of the pioneers of the Second Vatican Council .
On the other hand, there were Protestant reactions that portrayed the Redemptorist Mission as an un-American immigrant company. That is why Hecker planned to found a new Redemptorist House with members born exclusively in the USA, but encountered resistance in the order. Against the will of his competent superior, he traveled to the Generalate in Rome to raise his concerns. Because of this disobedience, he was released from the Order without a hearing.
Hecker did not accept that. Through the mediation of Cardinal Alessandro Barnabò , he got access to Pope Pius IX. This showed him great appreciation for his missionary work. He overturned the notice of dismissal, released Hecker and his American colleagues from their religious vows, thus clearing the way for a new company.
Paulists
In the spring of 1858 Hecker returned to New York and, with the consent of the archbishop, founded the Missionary Priests of St. Paul the Apostle community . With his confreres he resumed missionary and convert work. On one of his trips he covered more than 7,200 kilometers and spoke to more than 30,000 people, two thirds of whom were non-Catholics.
In 1865 he founded, in addition to the sermon mission, the monthly magazine The Catholic World , in 1870 The Young Catholic , plus a publishing company.
Sickness and death
At the First Vatican Council 1869-1870 Hecker took part as theological advisor to Bishop James Gibbons . Immediately thereafter, symptoms of leukemia appeared . In 1871, at the age of 52, he had to give up his leadership and missionary work. The physical suffering and senseless experience darkened his trust in God. He spent a few years with healing stays in Europe. In 1875 he returned to America and worked again in the mission with whatever strength he had left. But with weakness his feeling of God forsaken and the futility of his life grew. In the face of death he found a new, deep serenity that remained unforgettable for the witnesses of his death.
Web links
- Office for the Cause for Canonization of Servant of God Isaac Hecker (Washington DC): isaachecker.org
- Boniface Hanley OFM: The Story of Isaac Hecker: A Missionary to North America (paulist.org)
Individual evidence
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Hecker, Isaac Thomas |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American Roman Catholic priest and popular missionary |
| DATE OF BIRTH | December 18, 1819 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | New York City |
| DATE OF DEATH | December 22, 1888 |
| Place of death | New York City |