Josef Metzler

Josef Metzler OMI (born February 7, 1921 in Eckardroth, Bad Soden-Salmünster ; † January 12, 2012 in Hünfeld ) was Oblate of the Immaculate Virgin Mary and from 1984 to 1995 Prefect of the Vatican Secret Archives .

biography

After completing school in Obermedlingen and Borken , Josef Metzler entered the novitiate of the Oblates of Maria Immakulata in Maria Engelport in 1939 , where he took his religious vows on March 25, 1940 .

Religious and church historian

He took up the study of philosophy and theology at the religious college in Hünfeld, which interrupted the conscription to the armed forces. He served as a radio operator in Russia and Italy. In Italy he was taken prisoner of war, from which he was released in September 1945. From 1947 he studied at the Pontifical Gregorian University and received his doctorate in church history in 1953 with a summa cum laude and a gold medal on "The Salsette Decree of 1839 and its significance for Bombay" .

From 1953 to 1958 Josef Metzler taught mission history and church history at the religious college in Hünfeld . In Hünfeld and later in Rome with the Rosminian Sisters, he also worked as a pastor.

In 1958 Josef Metzler was appointed professor for mission history and church history at the Athenaeum Urbanianum (since 1963 Pontifical University) in Rome. At the same time he worked for the Bibliotheca Missionum and the Bibliografia Missionaria .

Archivist in Rome

After the death of Father Nicola Kowalsky OMI, Josef Metzler was appointed as his successor as archivist of the Congregation of Propaganda Fide . He held this office for eighteen years.

In 1984 Pope John Paul II appointed Josef Metzler Prefect of the Vatican Secret Archives . As such, he was responsible for the management of the archive - nominally subordinate to a cardinal officiating as “librarian and archivist of the Holy Roman Church”. He made great contributions to historical research because under his leadership the indexing and indexing of the holdings were promoted in the archive of the Propaganda Fide and in the Vatican Secret Archives, so that their use was made possible or facilitated in the first place. He suggested several exhibitions that made the treasures of both archives known to a wider public. In June 1995 Josef Metzler retired. After returning to Germany, he was a clinic pastor in Bad Wörishofen .

Josef Metzler died on January 12, 2012 in Hünfeld, where he had spent his old age since 2008.

Appointments and Awards

As archivist of the Propaganda Fide, Josef Metzler was consultor of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples . As Prefect of the Vatican Secret Archives, he was a member of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences and head of the Vatican School of Paleography, Diplomatics and Archival Studies . He was a member of the Pontifical Committee for Historical Sciences and a consultor to the Commission for the Protection of the Cultural Monuments of the Holy See.

In 1984 he spoke at the 10th International Congress of Archives of the International Archives Council (ICA) in Bonn on "The Vatican School of Paleography , Diplomatics and Archival Studies of the Vatican Secret Archives". At the XI. At the 1988 ICA Congress in Paris, he was elected to its Executive Committee.

The Secretariat for Christian Unity sent him several times to the meetings of the World Council of Churches as an observer of the Holy See .

The University of Uppsala awarded him an honorary doctorate in 1984 and the Catholic University of America in Washington in 2000.

Fonts

The articles in Festschriften for Johannes Rommerskirchen (1968), Hermann Tüchle (1975), Josef Glazik and Bernward Willeke (1978), André Seumois (1987), Karl Müller (1993), Willi Henkel (2000) are not listed. The numerous articles in magazines are also not listed: " Zeitschrift für Missionswissenschaft "; " New Journal for Mission Studies "; " Euntes Docete ", " Omnis Terra "; " Études Oblates ", " Communicatio Socialis "; " Miscellanea Historiae Pontificiae "; " Annales Pont. Univ. Urbaniana "; " Annuarium Historiae Conciliorum "; " International Bulletin of Missionary Research "; " Svensk Missionstidskrift "; " The Vineyard ", " Wereld en Zending ". His articles in: " Dizionario Storico Religioso ", " Lexicon for Theology and Church " (2nd and 3rd ed.) Are also not mentioned ; " Evangelical Church Lexicon ".

• Josef Metzler (ed.), De Archivis et Bibliothecis Missionibus atque Scientiae Missionum inservientibus, (= Euntes Docete XXI: 1968) Pontificia Universitas Urbaniana De Propaganda Fide, Roma 1968. 614 pp.
• Josef Metzler was a very valued and diligent colleague: the nine volumes XXII-XXX (1963–1974) bear his name as co-editor of the Bibliotheca Missionum . He was also a trusted contributor to the publication of the annual Bibliografia Missionaria , Rome 1959–1990.
• As the archivist of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, Josef Metzler annually published a Quaderno Supplement with the subtitle "Documenti problemi missionari".
• Josef Metzler is the editor of the history of the Congregation de Propaganda Fide in five volumes, which should become a standard work: Sacrae Congregationis de Propaganda Fide Memoria Rerum 1622–1972 . Sixty employees contributed to this. Many fundamental contributions about the origin, development and importance of this congregation come from his pen; he published the list of prefects and secretaries of the congregation in the III. Volume Part II pp. 617-625; the most important documents of the Congregation pp. 655–820. A summary of all contributions appeared as Compendio di Storia della Sacra Congregazione per l'Evangelizzazione dei Popoli o 'de Propaganda Fide 1622–1972 in: Euntes Docete XXVI (1973) No. 1.
• Josef Metzler expanded the most important working tool that enables access to the archive: N. Kowalski OMI - J. Metzler OMI, Inventory of the Historical Archives of the Sacred Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples or "De Propaganda Fide" , Pontificia Universitas Urbaniana, Rome 1983.
• In the history of the councils published by Walter Brandmüller (Series A: Representations) Josef Metzler wrote about The Synods in China, Japan and Korea (1570–1931) , Schöningh Paderborn 1980, and about The Synods in Indochina (1625-1934) Schöningh, Paderborn 1984 .
• During his time as prefect of the Vatican Secret Archives, J. Metzler published America Pontificia primi saeculi evangelizationis 1493–1592 (Documenta pontificia ex registris et minutis prasertim in Archivio Secreto Vaticano existentibus) , Città del Vaticano 1991–1995, 3 vols.
• J. Metzler is the editor of volume XXIV Storia della Chiesa : Dalle Missioni alle Chiese Locali (1846–1965) , Ed. Paoline, Cinisello Balsamo (Milano) 1990. In it he deals with the Holy See and the missions: La Santa Sede e le missioni ; Pp. 21-119. La Chiesa nelle Filippine pp. 431-448; La Chiesa in Oceania pp. 449-476.
• In the Handbuch der Kirchengeschichte edited by Hubert Jedin , J. Metzler deals with The Young Churches in Asia, Africa and Oceania , Vol. VII, Herder, Freiburg 1979, pp. 769–820.
• Josef Metzler (Ed.), Hermann Hoberg , in: Inventario dell'Archivio della Sacra Romana Rota (sec.XIV-XIX) , (= Collectanea Archivi Vaticani, Vol. 34), Città del Vaticano 1994.

Literature about Josef Metzler

• Willi Henkel (Ed.): Ecclesiae Memoria. Miscellanea in onore del RP Josef Metzler OMI Prefetto dell'Archivio Segreto Vaticano . Herder, Roma / Freiburg / Vienna 1991.
  • Marcello Zago: Un uomo consacrato alla missione: Fr. Josef Metzler, OMI pp. 11–15.
  • Giacomo Dalla Torre: Bibliografia del Rev.mo Padre Josef Metzler OMI 1954-1990. Pp. 482-490.

Web links

• Father Prof. Dr. Josef METZLER OMI (91) has died - well-known and humble

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Excerpta ex dissertatione ad Lauream in Facultate Historiae Ecclesiasticae, Pontificae Universitatis Gregorianae, Schöneck-Beckenried, 1954.
2. ^ Obituary for Josef Metzler
3. ↑ M. Zago, Un uomo consacrato alla missione pp. 12-13.
4. ↑ http://www.uu.se/om-uu/akademiska-traditioner/priser-utmarkelser/hedersdoktorer/teologiska