GALURA, BERNHARD. — Bishop, theologian, and educator, born at Herbolzheim (Baden) on 21 August 1764, died at Bressanone on 17 May 1856. He studied at the general seminaries of Freiburg im Br. and Vienna. Ordained a priest in 1788, he subsequently became prefect of studies at the Seminary of Freiburg, parish priest of the Cathedral, and school inspector for Breisgau. After the Napoleonic storm had passed, Emperor Francesco I appointed him government councillor at Innsbruck (1815); then, in 1819, made him vicar general for Vorarlberg and subsequently auxiliary bishop of Bressanone. From 1829, prince-bishop of Bressanone. He brought the Jesuits back to Innsbruck and caused theological studies to flourish anew at Bressanone, calling excellent professors to the Seminary, among them V. Gasser, F. J. Rodgier, and J. Fessler.
Himself a prolific writer, he addressed almost every branch of theology. He exerted his most original and enduring influence in the catechetical field, through his activity (the impetus given to Sunday “doctrine,” and to Masses for schoolchildren and children), and through his writings. His principal idea was the application of the Socratic inductive method to the teaching of the catechism: in this he made use of the best elements of the Enlightenment, without falling into rationalistic tendencies. Principal works: Grundsätze der sohratischen Katechistermethode (Freiburg im Br. 1793); Die ganze christbatholische Religion in Gesprächen (5 vols., ibid. 1796–99); Die neueste Theologie des Christentums (6 vols., ibid. 1800–1804); Lehrbuch der christlichen Wohlgezogenheit (Augsburg 1822).