Joseph Pless

Joseph Pless (born October 6, 1880 in Szakálháza ( German  Sackelhausen ), Kingdom of Hungary , Austria-Hungary ; † December 16, 1969 in Freidorf (Timișoara) , Socialist Republic of Romania ) was Ordinarius Substitutus of the Timișoara diocese .

Life

Study, priest, professor

Joseph Pless attended high schools in Féregyháza, Szeged and Temesvár ( Timișoara, Timisoara ); in June 1900 he graduated from high school. From 1900 to 1904 Pless completed his theological studies in Temesvár. He was ordained a priest on January 21, 1904. From 1904 to 1911 he was a chaplain in Pankota , Buziás and Nagyszentmiklós (Grand Saint Nicholas). In 1911 he became spiritual at the monastery of the poor school sisters Notre Dame in the Temesvár district of Józsefváros (Iosefin, Josefstadt), and in 1914 professor at the local teacher training institution. In 1920 he took over the management of the teacher training institute in the same district.

From 1938 to 1969 Joseph Pless was canon of the Timișoara diocese; from 1938 to 1951, he worked as a pastor in the Cetate district . In 1940 he became papal chamberlain and chairman of the disciplinary committee for Catholic teachers.

Ordinarius substitutus

From 1947 to 1951 Joseph Pless was vicar general of the Timișoara diocese. In view of the extraordinary situation of the Church throughout the country, the episcopal jurisdiction was dealt with as in the mission countries. Each jurisdiction holder, i.e. H. Each bishop had to appoint two successors who, in the event of their own incapacity to serve , had to exercise their jurisdiction rights and duties as Ordinarius substitutus .

Since Bishop Augustin Pacha was forced into retirement by the state in 1948, he left the formal management of the diocese to his vicar general, Canon Joseph Pless, who, after the bishop's arrest, was the first to lead the diocese as Ordinarius substitutus until his own arrest in the summer of 1951.

Imprisonment and death

On August 18, 1951 Joseph Pless was arrested and twelve years ' imprisonment convicted. He was in the prisons in Timişoara , Jilava , Ocnele Mari , Piteşti u. a. imprisoned. He was released on October 6, 1964 as part of an amnesty . After his release, he lived in Freidorf, Timișoara from 1964 to 1969. He was buried in the local cemetery by Ordinarius Konrad Kernweisz .

literature

• Anton Peter Petri : Biographical Lexicon of the Banat Germans. Marquartstein 1992, ISBN 3-922046-76-2 .
• Franz Herbs: Memories of Bishop Pacha. A piece of Banat local history. ADZ-Verlag, 1995, ISBN 973-96022-5-8 .

Web links

• Banat cultural area