POCH, GERMAN. - German Poch was a Jesuit spiritual writer, born on 18 October 1854 in Tarbes (Hautes-Pyrénées) and died in Paris on 9 June 1929. He was the brother of Marshal Ferdinand Foch of France. Having entered the Society of Jesus at the age of eighteen, Poch distinguished himself by his nobility and candor of character, devoting himself tirelessly to the pursuit of religious perfection.
He completed his third probation under the guidance of the Servant of God Paul Ginhac at Mourville; thereafter he served as novice master (1888–92), spiritual director to young scholastics at Uclés in Spain (1892–97) and at Gemert in the Netherlands (1902–1908), with a brief interval as rector at Vals. In his later years he devoted himself to the confessional and spiritual direction in the residences of Tournai, Pau, Toulouse, and Montpellier. Among those formed by his teaching were the distinguished religious and spiritual writer Raoul Plus.
He left several ascetical works, promoting the life of union with God present within the soul, generous charity, peace and spiritual joy, the practice of the Beatitudes, and love of the Cross: *Pax et Gaudium*, *L’Amour de la Croix*, *La Vie cachée*, *L’Holocauste* (Italian trans. by C. Tesore, Turin 1932–38).
Arnaldo M. Lanz