ZÄNGERLE, ROMAN SEBASTIAN. — Bishop, born at Oberkirchberg near Ulm (Württemberg) on 20 January 1771, died at Graz on 27 April 1848.
A Benedictine from 1788 and ordained a priest in 1793, he taught philosophy and biblical exegesis, as well as serving as novice master, in the abbey of Wiblingen, before being called to teach Holy Scripture at the University of Salzburg. From there he subsequently moved to the universities of Brünn, Prague, and Vienna, where he became a disciple of St. Clement Hofbauer. By special dispensation of the Holy See, although he was a monk, he attained in 1821 the dignity of canon of the metropolitan church of Vienna. A man of profound learning and enlightened apostolic zeal, he devoted particular care to the intellectual class and had the consolation of leading, or bringing back, to the faith many of the most distinguished minds of early nineteenth-century Austria, who had been led astray by Enlightenment or liberal theories.
In 1824 Mons. Z. was appointed prince-bishop of the diocese of Seckau and apostolic administrator of that of Leoben, which, owing to Josephinist interference, had been vacant for more than twelve years. The scholar then became a pastor of unsuspected energy: during a quarter-century of episcopate he truly transformed the face of the two dioceses, establishing two seminaries, introducing the Jesuits, Carmelites, and Redemptorists, fostering the emergence of new Congregations, especially women’s congregations, erecting schools, hospitals, and charitable institutions, leading both clergy back to a holier life, and improving the morals of the people. He also concerned himself with doctrinal problems and the codification of canon law.