Theodor Schu

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Theodor Schu (born April 3, 1892 in Tholey ; † August 24, 1965 in St. Wendel ) was a German bishop .

Life

Theodor Schu was born in Tholey as the son of a miner. He first attended elementary school , then the mission house in St. Wendel, where he graduated from high school in 1912 . He studied theology and philosophy in Mödling near Vienna . He was ordained a priest in 1916, the year of the war. During the First World War , he was initially unable to do his preferred missionary service. So he first became a chaplain in Bliesen . In 1921 he was finally allowed to travel to China. As a Steyler missionary , he settled in the province of South Shandong , where he initially worked as a traveling missionary. As a spiritual director , he took care of the first local seminarians from 1923. In 1933 he was appointed head of the region and became the third bishop of Yenchowfu. During his tenure he organized the handover of the Fu Jen University from the Benedictines to the Steyler missionaries together with the sinologist Franz Xaver Biallas . He was also at one of Pope Pius XI. commissioned Chinese encyclopedia, which was to be kept in the style of Herder's Conversations-Lexicon and distributed among the educated of China. However, the plan failed.

In 1936 Schu was appointed Vicar Apostolic of the Yanzhoufu Diocese , succeeding August Henninghaus . During his term of office, Josef Freinademetz was canonized , but he was only able to take part to a small extent, as the two never got to know each other. The hardest challenge was a flood of the Yellow River and the subsequent famine . During this time, Schu had five hospitals and 34 pharmacies built. He was also involved in a feast on the occasion of a visit by the delegate Mario Zanin , which was also attended by Duke Kong from Küfow , the 77th descendant of Confucius . The outbreak of the Second Sino-Japanese War also overshadowed his tenure. Christians were at risk of persecution during this chaos of war. Schu worked closely with the neighboring bishops August Olbert ( Tsingtau ) and Karl Christian Weber ( Ichowfu ) to take care of refugees and the homeless.

On June 30, 1944, he announced the establishment of a Propaganda Fide- approved congregation of sisters of the Oblates of the Yenchowfu Holy Family. On April 11, 1946, Yenchowfu was declared a normal diocese, making Schu first diocesan bishop . By 1948 he was bishop of 58,400 Catholics, who were looked after by 28 priests and 131 sisters. When the communists in China took power in 1949, Shu was in Shanghai. He was no longer allowed to return to Yenchowfu and remained in Shanghai until 1952. In 1952 he fled first to Hong Kong and then to the Philippines, where he was reunited with his subordinates who had to flee China.

During his time in exile, he remained present to the diocese and traveled between Taiwan, Hong Kong and the Philippines . In Hong Kong he was the editor of Catholic-Chinese writings. In San Vicente in Ilocos Sur he set up a seminary in exile and in Formosa he supported the establishment of the Oblates of the Holy Family. In 1961 he returned to Europe and represented the interests of Chinese Catholics at the 2nd Vatican Council . In Germany he represented local bishops on confirmation trips. On May 26th, he signed the Regensburger Domspatzen in Mater Dolorosa under Kapellmeister Georg Ratzinger .

In 1965 he had to be treated in hospital for circulatory disorders and heart problems. Despite initiating a cure measure, Bishop Schu died on August 24, 1965 in St. Wendel's Marienhospital. He was buried on August 28th as the first bishop in the Steyler cemetery in St. Wendel.

literature

  • Bodo Bost: From the Schaumberg to the Middle Kingdom - Bishop Theodor Schu from Tholey . In: Heimatbuch des Landkreis St. Wendel . Edited by the district administrator of the St. Wendel district. Edition Schaumberg 2015. ISBN 978-3-941095-35-9 . Pp. 110-115

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e Bodo Bost: From the foam mountain to the Middle Kingdom - Bishop Theodor Schu from Tholey . In: Heimatbuch des Landkreis St. Wendel . Edited by the district administrator of the St. Wendel district. Edition Schaumberg 2015. ISBN 978-3-941095-35-9 . Pp. 110-115
personal data
SURNAME Schu, Theodor
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German bishop
DATE OF BIRTH April 3, 1892
PLACE OF BIRTH Tholey
DATE OF DEATH August 24, 1965
Place of death St. Wendel