Nikolaus Blum

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Nikolaus Blum SVD (born April 5, 1857 in Lammersdorf , Eifel in the Diocese of Trier ; † October 29, 1919 in Steyl , Venlo, Netherlands) was a German Catholic religious priest , Steyler missionary and 2nd General Superior of the Society of the Divine Word (Societas Verbi Divini ) from 1909 to 1919.

Life

Origin and education

Nikolaus Blum came as the son of the married couple Johann Heinrich Blum and Helene Blum born. Meyer was born into an Eifel Catholic smallholder family. When he was eleven he lost his father. In Osnabrück he found a job in the financial administration of the railway. When Blum learned of the opening of the first German Catholic mission house on September 8, 1875 by Arnold Janssen in Steyl near Venlo in the Netherlands , he immediately turned to its founder. This took him on July 1, 1876 in the Latin school of the mission house St. Michael in Steyl. Janssen soon became aware of his talent in administrative work and used him as a student in this field. In 1880 Blum began studying theology and philosophy in Steyl and was ordained a priest on May 19, 1883 by Joannes Paredis , Bishop of Roermond , Netherlands (Limburg province) .

Procurator and general economist SVD

As a priest, he was now the procurator for the mission house in Steyl, and from 1891 he was responsible for the economic affairs of the Steyl mission company , which was expanding to all parts of the world . In 1902 Arnold Janssen appointed him rector of the St. Michael parent company in Steyl.

General Superior SVD 1909-1919

After the death of the founder of the Steyler missionaries, the capitulars of the General Chapter elected him to succeed Arnold Janssen. The constitutions of the Society of the Divine Word had been approved by the Holy See in 1905 for only five years. Therefore, the 4th General Chapter had to deal with the preparation of a final text of the SVD Constitutions from November 3, 1909 to January 15, 1910. Nikolaus Blum quickly managed to incorporate the corrections required by the Roman Curia . On April 5, 1910, the papal, this time final, approbation for the constitutions of the SVD was given.

From October 8, 1911 to January 16, 1912, Blum visited the Steyler Togo Mission. A second visitation trip went to North America , where he stayed from May to August 1912. In 1910 and 1913 he had to travel to Rome to negotiate with the Roman Curia. On October 13, 1913, Pope Pius X received General Superior Nikolaus Blum in a private audience. The difficulties that arose for the Steyler Mission Society from the First World War were also a great burden for the Superior General Blum. Hundreds of seminarians were drafted into military service in Germany and Austria, and many lost their lives. In addition, the Steyler missionaries were expelled from their two African missions in Togo (1917) and Mozambique . In the Philippines , too , most of the German missionaries had to leave their missions. The Allies demanded that China expel the German missionaries , but the Chinese government did not comply. All German and Austrian missionaries from New Guinea , which had been under Australian military administration since August 1914, were also to be expelled , but this was ultimately prevented by the objection of the Catholic shepherds of New York and Sydney . The organizational structure of the Steyler missionaries continued to develop under Blum, so the New Guinea Mission became a separate region in 1910 with Fr. Franz Vormann as regional superior and the Eastern Province, founded in 1917, received its own provincial superior in Fr. Wilhelm Gier . The regional superior of the Steyler Mission in New Guinea, Fr Franz Vormann (1868–1929) and another German missionary who refused the oath to Australia were interned in Australia.

Nikolaus Blum held the position of superior general from October 28, 1909 until his death on October 29, 1919.

literature

  • Hermann auf der Heide SVD, The Mission Society of Steyl. A picture of the first 25 years of its existence. Anniversary gift for September 8, 1900 , publ. Of the Missionsdruckerei in Steyl, Kaldenkirchen (Rhld.) 1900, 607 pp.
  • Anton Freitag SVD, The Missions of the Society of the Divine Word. Handbook on the geography, history and mission studies of those areas in which the Steyl missionaries are currently active , publ. Of the Missionsdruckerei Steyl, Post Kaldenkirchen (Rhineland) 1912, 146 pp.
  • Hermann Fischer SVD (ed.), In the service of the divine word 1875-1925 , Verl. Der Missionsdruckerei, Steyl 1925.
  • Hermann Fischer, Arnold Janssen, founder of the Steyler Missionswerk. Ein Lebensbild , Verl. Der Missionsdruckerei, Steyl 1919, 493 pp.
  • H. Fischer, Life of Arnold Janssen. Founder of the Society of the Divine Word and the Missionary Congregation of the Servants of the Holy Ghost , translated by Frederic M. Lynk, Mission Press SVD: Techny, Illinois / USA 1925, 520 pp.
  • Nikolaus Blum . In: Hermann Fischer SVD: Father Arnold's faithful. The co-founders at the Steyler Missionswerk , Kaldenkirchen 1925, pp. 3–164
  • Fritz Bornemann SVD: Father Arnold Janssen and his successors in office , in: Verbum SVD 1 (1959) pp. 322-335.
  • F. Bornemann: Arnold Janssen and his successors in office . In: Steyler Mission Chronicle 1959, pp. 157–168.
  • Fritz Bornemann, The General Superiors: P. Nik. Blum (1909-1919) , in. F. Bornemann: The history of our society , Analecta SVD 52/2, Romae 1981, pp. 25-26.
  • Paul B. Steffen, He consolidated Arnold Janssen's work. Nikolaus Blum was born 125 years ago in Lammersdorf (Eifel) , in: Paulinus. Trier diocese sheet 108 vol. (1982) No. 9, February 28, 1982, p. 23.
  • Paul B. Steffen: Moving life of Nikolaus Blum. A religious and priest from Lammersdorf (1857–1919) . In: District Daun, Heimatjahrbuch 1982, pp. 183–185.
  • Gregor Brand, Blum, Nikolaus , in: Biographisch-Bibliographischen Kirchenlexikon 20 (2002), Sp. 216 f.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Paul B. Steffen: Moving life of Nikolaus Blum. A religious and priest from Lammersdorf (1857–1919) . In: District of Daun, Heimatjahrbuch 1982, 183-185
  2. ^ Paul B. Steffen, He consolidated the work of Arnold Janssen. Nikolaus Blum was born 125 years ago in Lammersdorf (Eifel) , in: Paulinus. Trier diocese sheet 108 vol. (1982) No. 9, February 28, 1982, p. 23.
  3. ↑ A. Miotk SVD The SVD General Chapters from the historical point of view (Part I) , in: Verbum SVD 53: 1 (2012) p. 23
  4. ^ Nuncio SVD, No. 30 (1913) p. 199.
  5. ^ Paul B. Steffen, Father Franz Vormann SVD (1868–1929) from Billerbeck - co-founder of the Catholic Mission a. Church in New Guinea , in: Geschichtsblätter des Kreises Coesfeld, Kreisheimatverein Coesfeld (ed.), Vol. 36 (2011) pp. 105–119.
  6. ^ Hermann Fischer SVD, father of Arnold's loyal people. The co-founders at the Steyler Missionswerk , Kaldenkirchen 1925, pp. 3–164.
personal data
SURNAME Blum, Nicholas
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German Catholic religious priest, Steyler missionary
DATE OF BIRTH April 5, 1857
PLACE OF BIRTH Lammersdorf
DATE OF DEATH October 29, 1919
Place of death Steyl , Venlo, the Netherlands