Leo Meurin

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Johann Gabriel Leo Louis Meurin (born January 23, 1825 in Berlin , † June 1, 1895 in Port Louis , Mauritius ), called Leo or Léon Meurin , was a German Catholic theologian and missionary from the Jesuit order . He was Bishop of Port-Louis (Mauritius).

life and work

Leo Meurin studied philosophy and theology in Bonn, Münster and Tübingen. In 1844 he was one of the founders of the student association KDStV Bavaria Bonn , the oldest color-bearing Catholic corporation in Germany. Archbishop Johannes von Geissel consecrated him as a priest in Cologne on September 3, 1848 - together with the later Old Catholic Joseph Hubert Reinkens . On October 13th he appointed the young clergyman cathedral vicar and his secret secretary.

In 1853 Leo Meurin joined the Society of Jesus in Münster. In 1858 he was transferred to the Indian mission at his own request. The young priest recognized the importance of native languages ​​for missionary work early on. He learned and later taught Marathi and wrote a textbook for future Jesuit missionaries. On June 4, 1867, Pope Pius IX appointed the Germans as Apostolic Vicar of Bombay and Titular Bishop of Ascalon , he was ordained on February 2, 1868.

Leo Meurin's primary goal was to lead the locals to social recognition through education. He founded numerous parishes and mission stations, schools, newspapers and magazines as well as communities based on the European model. In 1869 he joined the St. Xavier's School, a university college that still exists today. He supported the poor as well as campaigned for the sick and the disabled. The "Bombay Institute for Deaf and Mutes" founded in 1885 is Asia's oldest institution for the disabled.

As Apostolic Vicar of Bombay, Leo Meurin was a council father ( First Vatican Council ). The staunch advocate of papal infallibility took an active part in debates. He was advised by his brother and former teacher Wilhelm Wilmers SJ

Leo Meurin published several books. His work “La Franc-Maçonnerie. Synagogue de Satan ”, published in Paris in 1893, was also used by the impostor Leo Taxil ( Taxil swindle ). In his attacks on the Freemasons, Meurin also brought the Jews into play:

"Everything in Freemasonry is fundamentally Jewish, exclusively Jewish, passionately Jewish, from start to finish."

A prolonged conflict with the order ultimately led to Leo Meurin's deposition as Vicar Apostolic of Bombay. The occasion was the concordat concluded between the Vatican and Portugal in 1886 on Portuguese patronage in parts of India ( padroado problem). The bishop expressly opposed it and therefore seemed no longer acceptable at his post.

In 1886 Leo Meurin was forced to resign, but was appointed titular Archbishop of Nisibis on September 15, 1887 and Bishop of the Diocese of Port-Louis on Mauritius on September 27 . Here he was able to do pastoral and journalistic activities in the usual way until his death on June 1st, 1895. The missionary found his final resting place in the cathedral of Port-Louis.

Publications

  • God and Brahm. A lecture, Bombay 1865
  • The use of holy images. Summary of the proceedings of the Bombay Catholic debating club. Relating to the late discussion on the above subject, Bombay 1866
  • Monumenta quaedam causam Honorii papae spectantia, Rome 1870
  • On the idea of ​​the infinite. By the Rt. Rev. Dr. L. Meurin, SJRC Bishop of Bombay, Bombay 1876
  • Purity of the Roman Catholic Faith, Bombay 1879
  • Zoroaster and Christ. Correspondence between a catholic layman and the Right Reverend Leo Meurin, SJ, roman catholic bishop of Bombay, Bombay 1882
  • The Padroado Question, Bombay 1885
  • The Concordat Question, Bombay 1885
  • La lutte de l'enfer contre le ciel, Port-Louis 1890
  • Select Writings with a Biographical Sketch of his Life by PA Colaço, Bombay 1891
  • Ethics, Port-Louis 1891
  • La franc-maçonnerie, synagogue de Satan , Paris, 1893 ( digitized version ).
(Spanish)

See also

literature

  • Norman Cohn : "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion": The Myth of the Jewish World Conspiracy. With an annotated bibliography by Michael Hagemeister. Elster-Verlag, Baden-Baden / Zurich 1998, ISBN 3-89151-261-9 .
  • Alfons Väth, The German Jesuits in India. History of the mission of Bombay-Puna, Regensburg 1920
  • Alfred Rothe, "Archbishop Johann Gabriel Leo Meurin SJ A Berlin missionary bishop from the 19th century", in: WJ, XI-XII (1957–1958), 121–130
  • James Gense, "Bishop Leo Meurin", in: The Church at the Gateway of India, Bombay 1960, 276–322
  • Cartell Association of Catholic German Student Associations and Cartell Association of Catholic Austrian Student Associations (publisher), bishops, abbots, provosts from the CV and ÖCV, Regensburg-Vienna 2009, 93–94

Web links


personal data
SURNAME Meurin, Leo
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Meurin, Johann Gabriel Leo Louis (full name); Meurin, Léon; Meurin, Johann Gabriel Léon Louis
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German Jesuit, theologian, missionary, Archbishop of Port-Louis (Mauritius)
DATE OF BIRTH January 23, 1825
PLACE OF BIRTH Berlin
DATE OF DEATH June 1, 1895
Place of death Port Louis , Mauritius