Johann Baptist Heinrich (priest)

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Prelate Johann Baptist Heinrich

Johann Baptist Heinrich (born April 15, 1816 in Mainz ; † February 9, 1891 ibid) was a German Catholic priest from the diocese of Mainz , professor of dogmatics , cathedral capitular , cathedral dean and from 1869 Mainz vicar general ; also a well-known Catholic writer and publicist of the Kulturkampfzeit.

Life

Origin and career

Heinrich was born in Mainz in 1816 as the son of his father and mayor of the same name (see Johann Baptist Heinrich (politician) ). After his high school in Mainz, he studied law in Gießen from 1834 to 1837, became a doctor of both rights on December 27, 1837 and began his legal career as an undersecretary at the higher court in Mainz. In 1840 he completed his habilitation as a private lecturer at the law faculty in Giessen. B. on legal philosophy, canon law, French civil law, German civil process and became a popular teacher.

priesthood

In 1842 Johann Baptist Heinrich resigned from this position after feeling the vocation to the clergy. He then studied theology in Tübingen and Freiburg, entered the episcopal seminary in Mainz in spring 1844 and was ordained a priest there on February 15, 1845. Shortly afterwards he became cathedral chaplain, 1850 cathedral prebendar , 1851 professor of dogmatics at the reopened philosophical-theological institute, 1855 cathedral capitular and episcopal clergyman , on January 30, 1867 cathedral dean and on November 16, 1869 vicar general . In addition to these honors, he retained his teaching activity and took it up again when the seminar, which was closed in the Kulturkampfzeit in 1877, was reopened in 1887 under Bishop Haffner . On August 1, 1882, the theological faculty of Würzburg earned him a doctorate in theology. On April 16, 1886, he was promoted to papal house prelate . During the long period of his activity in Mainz under the three bishops Peter Leopold Kaiser , Wilhelm Emmanuel von Ketteler and Paul Leopold Haffner , Heinrich took an outstanding part in the endeavors aimed at reviving the religious spirit in the city and diocese. In 1848 he took an active part in the founding of the Piusverein and in the organization of the 1st German Catholic Day in Mainz. Johann Baptist Heinrich is known as a neo-Scholastic theologian. From 1850 to 1890 he edited the Mainz magazine " Der Katholik " with Christoph Moufang , was a co-founder and promoter of the Görres Society (1874/75) and played a decisive role in shaping the spiritual and religious life of Catholic Germany at that time. He played an important role in the conversion of the communist Philipp Wasserburg (alias "Philipp Laicus" ) to a Catholic politician and writer.

Andreas Niedermayer gives Johann Baptist Heinrich great praise for his permanent, active participation in the Catholic Days of the time and states in 1865 in his book "Mecheln und Würzburg, Sketches and Pictures from the Catholic Assemblies in Belgium and Germany", in which he lists many well-known Catholics from the Mid-19th century describes:

" You can get Dr. Don't mention Moufang without also thinking of Domcapitular Heinrich. Both form a 'par nobile fratrum', both in literature, such as the friends Räß and Weis before , and in public life in Catholic Germany, such as the Dioscurs August and Peter Reichensperger in the Prussian Chamber. Dr. Heinrich attended the 1st episcopal meeting in Würzburg as secretary in 1848 - he was a little over 30 years old at the time - and a few weeks earlier he had made significant contributions to the organization of the association at the first general meeting in Mainz. Since then he has attended 'summa cum laude' almost all the meetings, was an active, inspiring member of them, and through his enthusiasm he promoted most of the Catholic undertakings that have been put into operation to this day. His activity is equally excellent in committee meetings, in closed as in public meetings; Heinrich is not only a popular congress speaker, but also a skilled publicist and polemicist, has written the best German work against Renan as an apologist , and as a dogmatist and jurist in German science takes a position which he knows how to defend against each of his opponents . "

- Andreas Niedermayer 'Mecheln and Würzburg', 1865, page 98

From 1878 to 1887 he represented the diocese of Mainz as a member of the First Chamber of the Estates of the Grand Duchy of Hesse .

Works

Heinrich's main work is "Dogmatic Theology" , which he continued from 1873 until his death up to the 7th volume, but left unfinished. It was continued by Konstantin Gutberlet, who completed the 7th volume (Mainz 1896) and had the 8th to 10th (final) volume follow (Mainz 1897, 1901; Münster i. W. 1902, 1914). As the main asset of the work, which in his investigations mainly focuses on the guidance of St. Thomas Aquinas follows, the “clarity and transparency of the presentation, the luminous discussion of difficult matters and the beautiful and flowing language that is bare of all phrases” is emphasized (Brück). The first six volumes were also published in the second edition, 1881–1900. Shortly before his death, Heinrich thought of working on a shorter dogmatic compendium based on his lectures; the plan was carried out by Philipp Huppert: "Textbook of Catholic Dogmatics" , by JB Heinrich. Edited and edited by Ph. Huppert (1st and 2nd half volume, Mainz 1898–1900).

Of the other works by Heinrich, the following are significant:

  • “Church reform. An illumination of Hirscher's writing: 'The Church Conditions of the Present' ” (Mainz 1850);
  • “The reaction of so-called progress against the freedom of the Church and religious life. With special consideration for the ecclesiastical conditions in Central Germany and the latest events in the Grand Duchy of Hesse ” (Mainz 1863);
  • “The evidence for the truth of Christianity and the Church” (Mainz 1863; new edition 1885);
  • "Christ. A proof of its historical existence and divine personality, at the same time a criticism of rationalism, Straussian mysticism and the life of Jesus von Renan ” (Mainz 1864);
  • "The monasteries in history" (Frankfurt a. M. 1866);
  • "The monasteries and their opponents in the present" (Frankfurt a. M. 1866);
  • "Joseph von Görres" (Frankfurt a. M. 1867)
  • "The first dogmatic decree of the Vatican Council, translated and explained" (Münster 1870);
  • "Clemens Brentano" (Cologne 1878).

literature

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Heinrich, Johann Baptist
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German priest
DATE OF BIRTH April 15, 1816
PLACE OF BIRTH Mainz
DATE OF DEATH February 9, 1891
Place of death Mainz