RAUSCHER, JOSEPH OTHMAR. — Cardinal, b. 6 Oct. 1797 at Vienna, d. there 24 Nov. 1875. After graduating in law he was ordained priest in 1823 and in 1825 became professor of Church history and ecclesiastical law at Salzburg. He was a disciple of St. Clement Hofbauer.
During these years he began a history of the Church, of which only two volumes appeared, covering the period up to the age of Constantine. His activity as a writer and scholar was interrupted by other duties. In 1833 he was appointed director of the Oriental Academy in Vienna and also tutor to the future Emperor Francis Joseph. When, in accordance with a testamentary disposition of Emperor Francis, Metternich in 1835 opened negotiations for the conclusion of a Concordat, Rauscher was at his side, but the attempt failed against the resistance of Josephinist bureaucracy. On 15 Apr. 1849 Rauscher was consecrated Bishop of Seckau. A few days later, from 30 Apr. to 17 June, he took part, together with all the other bishops of Austria, in a meeting in Vienna to deliberate on the new legal status granted to the Catholic Church by the Constitution of 14 Mar. 1849. Rauscher exercised great influence; he himself declared that it was necessary to deal directly with the government authorities on controversies within the diocese, while reserving other matters for a Concordat. Rauscher was then called to be part of a committee, composed of five bishops, to negotiate on this with the government. In Dec. 1851 the Emperor appointed him his plenipotentiary for a Concordat with the Holy See. After long negotiations, which Rauscher conducted in Vienna and Rome with Cardinal Santucci, the Concordat was signed on 18 Aug. 1855. Meanwhile, on 27 June 1853, Rauscher had been named Archbishop of Vienna and, in recognition of his merits, was created cardinal by Pius IX in the Consistory of 17 Dec. 1855. However, within a few years, and especially from 1866 onwards, Rauscher found himself forced to defend the Concordat against increasingly violent attacks by liberals, who had taken office and held a majority in the Chamber of Representatives. Gradually the concordatory provisions lost their force, owing to special laws enacted by the State in matters of marriage and education. Finally, after the definition of papal infallibility, to which Rauscher himself had shown opposition, the Concordat was declared void by the Austrian government in July 1870.