* 7. February, 1844 in Ebensee, Austria + 20. June, 1903 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Archbishop
Frederik Katzer was one of two children of poor parents. Ron
Katzer whose great-grandmother, Eva Katzer, was Archbishop Katzer's only
sister, has the following details:
"His father's name was Charles. His mother's name was
Barbara. I also know her maiden name - nee Reinhardtsgruber, native of
Moravia. In the late
1800's, Archbishop Katzer took my grandfather before he was married to Rome.
At that time, my grandfather met the pope. He had a very special gold ring
with him that the pope blessed for him. When I was little, I remember my
grandfather always wearing that ring. When my grandfather died July 19, 1968,
I inherited this ring.
Archbishop Katzer is buried in a cemetary that is called the Chapel in the
Woods located right by lake Michigan at a place called St.
Francis Seminary. The current Archbishop in Milwaukee, Rembert
G. Weakland, had taken a pilgrimage with
local Milwaukee citizens to Ebensee, Austria,
birthplace of Archbishop Katzer."
It was not easy for Frederik Katzer to become archbishop
in Milwaukee. The "Catholic Herald" of the archdiocese
Milwaukee has some interesting additional information:
"To fully understand the history of Milwaukee archdiocese,
one must know that German speaking immigrants felt a strong
need for Germans speaking priests (and bishops) to minister
to them.The Irish English speaking bishops wanted an Irisman
to succeed Heiss (i.e. his predecessor). The German
speaking wanted a German... But the Vatican chose Katzer.
Highlights of the episcopal career of this sincere and austere man show him to have always been a fighter and probably the most political of our bishops...
- He was a strong supporter of Catholic schools... In fact, he had a rule that if one didn't go to a Catholic school, one didn't receive communion.
- He fought secret societies like the Knights of Pythias, the Free Masons and others that promoted strictly secular public schools.
- He wanted all labor unions condemned by the pope. He thought Catholics should have their own labor unions, as in Europe.
- When the pope condemned "Americanism", he wrote a pastoral supporting him.
- Very much a Papist, he nevertheless ignored Rerum Novarum and opposed the socialist movement beginning in Milwaukee."
Archbishop Frederik Xavier Katzer allowed the Salvatorian Sisters to settle in the USA. More...
Document of the death of the mother of Frederik Xavier Katzer
More information on bishop Frederik Xavier Katzer is now on Wikipedia