FORSTER, HEINRICH. - Bishop of Breslau, b. November 24, 1799 at Gross-Glogau, d. October 20, 1881 at Johannesburg Castle, in Austrian Silesia. Ordained a priest in 1825, he first carried out pastoral activity at Landeshut. A member of the Cathedral Chapter of Breslau in 1837, he distinguished himself by his effective sermons against J. Ronge, one of the founders of the schismatic "German Catholic Church." In 1853 he succeeded Diepenbrock as prince-bishop of Breslau.
A strenuous defender of the rights of Catholics, he gave clear proof of his worth in the period following the Vatican Council and during the Kulturkampf. He immediately adhered to the declaration of pontifical infallibility and suspended certain professors reluctant to approve the deliberations of the Council. In 1873 he appealed, also in the name of other prelates, to Emperor William I, begging him not to affix the royal sanction to the so-called May laws, expressly contrary to Catholics. The state authorities then decided to proceed with the arrest of the courageous prelate, and to force him to renounce his office. Warned in time, the bishop withdrew to Johannesburg Castle (in the Austrian part of the bishopric), whence he continued to administer his diocese until his death. In November 1875, a judgment of the Prussian court had declared F. to have forfeited the dignity of prince-bishop of Breslau.
Bibliography2 worksH. Brück, Geschichte der katholischen Kirche in Deutschland, IV, 1, Magenta 1901, passim; F. Lauchert, a. v. in LThK, IV, coll. 68-69. Silvi
BIBL.: H. Brück, Geschichte der katholischen Kirche in Deutschland, IV, 1, Magenta 1901, passim; F. Lauchert, a. v. in LThK, IV, coll. 68-69.
Furlani, Silvio. “Forster, heinrich.” In Enciclopedia Cattolica, vol. V, coll. 1534–1535. Città del Vaticano: Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico, 1950. https://azioneromana.com/article/forster-heinrich.
MLA
Furlani, Silvio. “Forster, heinrich.” Enciclopedia Cattolica, vol. V, Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico, 1950, coll. 1534–1535. Azione Romana, https://azioneromana.com/article/forster-heinrich.
BibTeX
@incollection{ec5_forster_heinrich,
author = {Furlani, Silvio},
title = {Forster, heinrich},
booktitle = {Enciclopedia Cattolica},
volume = {V},
pages = {1534--1535},
note = {Cited by column},
publisher = {Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico},
address = {Città del Vaticano},
year = {1950},
url = {https://azioneromana.com/article/forster-heinrich}
}
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