JORDAN, Franz. – Priest, in religion F. Maria della Croce, b. at Gurtweil (Baden) on 16 June 1848, d. at Tafers (Switzerland) on 8 September 1918. Ordained priest in 1878, he was soon sent to Rome to the German Hospice in the Vatican to perfect his study of Oriental languages. In 1880 he made a journey to the East, during which he matured the idea of an association for the spread of Catholic truth and morality. Returning to Rome the following year, he founded the Apostolic Society of Teachers, which later became the Society of the Divine Saviour. His meeting with Baroness von Wüllenweber led to the foundation of the Daughters of the Divine Saviour, to assist the work of his religious in the missions. Untiring in his efforts to expand the two Congregations in India, the German-speaking countries, and the Americas, he endured misunderstandings and suspicions, but the firmness of his character and his spirit of discipline won the admiration of all. His cause of beatification is underway.
JORDAN, FRANZ
BIBL.: P. Pfeiffer, P. J. und seine Gründungen, Rome 1920; E. Federici, Il p. F. J., ibid. 1948.