PIRHING, EHRENREICH. - Canonist and moral theologian, b. at Siegarthing (Lower Bavaria) on 12 Apr. 1606, d. at Dillingen (Bavaria) on 15 Sept. 1679.
A Jesuit in 1628, he taught philosophy at Ingolstadt, then moral theology and, for a long time, canon law and Sacred Scripture at Dillingen. He was also rector at Eichstätt and preacher at Ratisbona. He is considered the greatest canonist of the seventeenth century because of his classic work: Jus canonicum in V libros Decretalium distributum (Dillingen 1674-78, 1722, Venezia 1759), in which are summarized other works previously published on particular subjects of book I of the Decretals. After his death, a fellow religious produced an abridgment: Facili et concisa ss. Canonum doctrina (Dillingen 1690, Venezia 1693), later under the title Synopsis Pirhingana (Augusta 1695, Venezia 1697).