ABEL, HEINRICH. - Jesuit, nephew of the renowned statesman K. Abel, born at Passau on 15 Dec. 1843, died at Vienna on 23 Nov. 1926. He entered the Order in 1863 and, after completing his studies, first taught literature and history for several years at the college of Kalksburg. He then moved to Vienna, devoting himself to ministry among men. There he founded the first Marian Congregation (1890), that of merchants, followed during his lifetime by 330 others, composed of persons of every rank and condition, with 5 periodicals; he promoted pilgrimages of men to the shrine of Mariazell and men’s retreats for spiritual exercises. But the work that earned him the title of the apostle of Vienna was his courses of apologetic and social preaching for men. He had already preached in this vein while a professor at Kalksburg; now, however, in the church of St Augustine he began a vibrant and sustained preaching, in popular and attractive form, steeped in the ideas of Rerum novarum, which marked a splendid Catholic revival in the capital. In his social action he supported the mass movement led by Dr. Lueger. At his funeral, attended by the Cardinal of Vienna, there were more than 10,000 men, including 300 priests.
Among his writings are: Zurück zum praktischen Christentum (4th ed., Vienna 1900); Der Katholische Mann (Vienna 1923); and, in reply to accusations from those stung by the truths proclaimed from the pulpit, the pamphlet Wie ich gesucht wurde (Vienna 1926).