FRÜHWIRTH, ANDREAS. - Dominican cardinal, b. at S. Anna (Styria) on 21 Aug. 1845, d. in Rome on 9 Feb. 1933, buried at S. Anna. Having changed his baptismal name, Francesco, to the religious name of Fra' Andrea on the occasion of his clothing at Graz (1863), he studied at Graz and in Rome, where he was a student of the College of St. Thomas and received the lectorate in theology (1870); a priest from 1868, he taught theology from 1870 at Graz and then at Vienna. In this city he distinguished himself as prior and provincial, becoming known for his friendship with Vogelsang and for the trials concerning the Religionsfondssteuer. Elected master general at Lyon on 19 Sept. 1891, he restored common life in the Dominican Order, re-established the regular series of General Chapters, had the Analecta S. Ord. Praed. (1893 ff.), the Monumenta Ord. Praed. Historica (1893 ff.), and the Bibliotheca ascetica Ord. Praed. (1897 ff.) published, and promoted the Leonine edition of the works of St. Thomas Aquinas, then entrusted to the Dominicans.
He knew how to choose excellent collaborators, among whom he called to Rome Fathers Giacinto Cormier and Egidio Boggiani; he visited convents and provinces, recovering or enlarging those of La Quercia near Viterbo and of St. Sabina in Rome, erected the faculty of canon law in the College of St. Thomas, and wrote magnificent circular letters, for example the De sacra praedicatione (1893).
An apostolic visitor in Austria, he was appointed titular archbishop of Heraclea (30 Nov. 1907) and sent as apostolic nuncio to Munich. A cardinal from 1915, he remained in Munich as pro-nuncio until Dec. 1916, then returning to Rome, where he obtained the title of Sts. Cosmas and Damian. Papal legate at the consecration of the cathedral of Linz (1924), major penitentiary from 1925, chancellor of the S.R.C. (1927), he combined great erudition with doctrine, indefatigable work for the ecclesiastical dicasteries, and eminent piety. From 1927 to 1931 he devoted himself in a particular way to the exaltation of Albert Alagno to sainthood and to the title of Doctor.
Bibliography4 works
Angelo Walz