Pius Reher

Pius Reher

Pius Reher (* 1597 in Blönried as Simon; † December 9, 1654 ) was abbot of the Benedictine monastery of St. Gallen and prince abbot of the prince abbey of St. Gallen from 1630 to 1654 .

Life

Pius Reher was born in Blönried near Weingarten in modest circumstances. His parents were Martin Reher and Anna Lang. He made his vows on August 10, 1614. He studied in Ingolstadt and from 1621 in Dillingen , where he received his master's degree. At that time he was already a subdeacon and became a deacon on April 10, 1621 . He became a priest on September 24, 1622. He was active as a subprior, as a brother instructor and finally as a novice master. His election as abbot took place on April 15, 1630 in the presence of the nuncio. Pope Urban VIII confirmed him on December 16, 1630. Nuncio Ranuccio Scotti gave him the benediction on May 3, 1631, in Einsiedeln . He was abbot during the Thirty Years War .

Act

Thirty Years' War

During the Thirty Years' War tensions arose at the borders of the abbey. Abbot Pius was confronted with requests for marches through his territories, which he allowed the Duke Henri de Rohan in 1635 and the imperial in the same year. He then concluded with Philip IV . of Spain a military alliance.

Achievements

Pius Reher consolidated the rights of the abbey in the contracts with the Wilern, Stadt-St.-Gallen and Appenzellern. 1650–1654 he settled tithes and other problems with the city of Wil in various contracts. From 1652 to 1654 the bodies of several catacomb saints were transferred in ceremonial processions to the St. Gallen abbey area. Pius determined the income from the parishes of Grub and Goldach as the source for the acquisitions of the monastery library. He expanded the high school in Rorschach, built by his predecessor Abbot Bernhard , by introducing courses in philosophy and theology. He had the St. Johann monastery printing plant, which had existed since 1635, relocated to St. Gallen. All this led to considerable debts, which he left to his successor Abbot Gallus Alt after his death .

Reform activity

Because of his strong reform work, Pope Urban VIII appointed him protector of the Salem and Kempten monasteries. His religious zeal cannot be doubted, and his reform spirit is above all suspicion, and yet Abbot Pius Reher maintained good contacts with the St. Gallen doctor and mayor Sebastian Schobinger .

literature

• Werner Vogler: Short biographies of the abbots. In: Johannes Duft, Anton Gössi, Werner Vogler (eds.): The St. Gallen Abbey. St. Gallen 1986, ISBN 3-906616-15-0 , pp. 163-164.

Web links

• Lorenz Hollenstein: Reher, Pius. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .

predecessor	Office	successor
Bernhard Muller	Abbot of St. Gallen 1630–1654	Gallus Alt