Wilhelm Mercy

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Wilhelm Mercy (born February 9, 1753 in Überlingen , † July 1, 1825 in Gruol ) was a Roman Catholic clergyman .

Life

Mercy entered on April 1, 1770 under Abbot Mauritius Moritz (1760–1782) as a novice in the Premonstratensian monastery Rot an der Rot in Upper Swabia . He was ordained a priest in Constance on February 22, 1777 . His job was that of the pilgrimage pastor at the Maria Steinbach pilgrimage church . Then he became a teacher at the school of the mother house in red on the red. He was in the convent an opponent of Abbot Willbold Held (1782–1789), whom he felt cold-hearted. In 1787 Mercy was appointed court preacher by the Duke of Württemberg Carl Eugen . 1788 took place at the request of Duke Carl Eugen by Pope Pius VI. the release from religious vows . After the Duke's death in 1794, he spent a year in his native Ueberlingen. In 1798 he became pastor in Gruol near Haigerloch in the Imperial Principality of Hohenzollern-Hechingen .

Grave plate Abbot Willebold hero opponent Mercy

At the end of the 18th century, the monasteries came under severe criticism from the Enlightenment. Demands for the abolition of the monasteries were formulated more and more openly. Mercy was familiar with the Enlightenment's criticism of the monastic system and the spiritual territories. He wrote essays on post- secularization education . He gave advice to young clergymen and tried to devise a new Catholic ritual. The abolition of eighteen Catholic universities in the spiritual territories of Swabian Austria and the end of the decentralized educational institutions in the monasteries and the dissolution of the monastery libraries there had lasting consequences. Mercy developed a concept of how the education system in Swabia was to be managed as an educational institution despite the demise of the monasteries. One or two imperial abbeys should be retained. There should be order, but no monasticism in these houses. The prelate should renounce all his insignia of his dignity and power, should be a professor by education , appointed by the bishop, but not be able to be arbitrarily transferred or dismissed by him. Mercy was an enlightened secular priest who campaigned for a Catholicism according to Ignaz Heinrich von Wessenberg . Various articles and treatises by Mercy can be found in the Konstanz pastoral archive and the Ulm annual papers. In 1819 he was retired.

Works

  • On the draft of a new Catholic ritual, 1806
  • About the abolished monasteries, 1808
  • Principles of eloquence for young clergymen, 1810
  • To the future bishops, 1822
  • In memory of Benedict Maria Leonhard von Werkmeister, 1823.

literature

  • Volker Himmelein (ed.): Old monasteries, new masters. The secularization in the German southwest 1803. Large state exhibition Baden-Württemberg 2003 ; Ostfildern: Thorbecke, 2003; ISBN 3-7995-0212-2 (exhibition catalog and essay volume)
  • Benedikt Stadelhofer: Historia imperialis et exemti Collegii Rothensis in Suevia ; Augustae Vindelicorum 1787; Volume 1 and 2
  • Rudolf Eyth: Memories of Wilhelm Mercy , 1829 in Zeitschr. f. the Archb. Freiburg, 4th issue, p. 284.
  • Franz Heinrich Reusch :  Mercy, Wilhelm . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 21, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1885, p. 419.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ How can the Catholic Swabia be rewarded for the war injustice to the greatest advantage for religion? A question, the answer of which is presented to the Swabian clergy for heartbeat (Ulm) 1801
personal data
SURNAME Mercy, Wilhelm
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Catholic theologian
DATE OF BIRTH February 9, 1753
PLACE OF BIRTH Überlingen
DATE OF DEATH July 1, 1825
Place of death Geul