Franz Xavier Wernz SJ (December 4, 1842 – August 19, 1914) was the twenty-fifth

Superior General of the Society of Jesus The superior general of the Society of Jesus is the leader of the Society of Jesus, the Catholic religious order also known as the Jesuits. He is generally addressed as Father General. The position sometimes carries the nickname of the Black Po ...

(the Jesuit order). He was born in

Rottweil Rottweil (; Alemannic: ''Rautweil'') is a town in southwest Germany in the state of Baden-Württemberg. Rottweil was a free imperial city for nearly 600 years. Located between the Black Forest and the Swabian Alps, Rottweil has nearly 25,000 in ...

, Württemberg (afterwards part of Germany).

Life

Wernz was the first of the eight children of parents with deep faith and piety. From an early age he had expressed his desire to be a Jesuit, perhaps influenced by the fact that his parish church in

had been a Jesuit church before the suppression and still retained many reminders of the Society. The paintings of many Jesuit saints and the fact that the yearly

parish mission A parochial mission or parish mission is a special pastoral effort in the Catholic Church aimed at preaching to and instructing Catholic followers. These are "home missions" geared toward Catholics, distinguished from apostolic missions to make co ...

was given by Jesuits had probably helped him to make the decision. He entered the society on December 5, 1857, made his

novitiate The novitiate, also called the noviciate, is the period of training and preparation that a Christian ''novice'' (or ''prospective'') monastic, apostolic, or member of a religious order undergoes prior to taking vows in order to discern whether ...

at Gorheim near Sigmaringen, and took his first vows on December 8, 1859. From 1864-1868 and from 1872-1873 he was educator and teacher at

Stella Matutina (Jesuit School) Stella Matutina in Feldkirch, Austria, was a Jesuit school that operated in 1651–1773, 1856–1938, and 1946–1979. History, scholarship, international flair The “Kolleg” began in 1649 but opened formally in 1651. In 1773, when Pope Clemen ...

in Feldkirch, Austria. He studied theology and

philosophy Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some ...

at the

Maria Laach Maria Laach Abbey (in German: ''Abtei Maria Laach'', in Latin: ''Abbatia Maria Lacensis'' or ''Abbatia Maria ad Lacum'') is a Benedictine abbey situated on the southwestern shore of the Laacher See (Lake Laach), near Andernach, in the Eifel ...

and

Aachen Aachen ( ; ; Aachen dialect: ''Oche'' ; French and traditional English: Aix-la-Chapelle; or ''Aquisgranum''; nl, Aken ; Polish: Akwizgran) is, with around 249,000 inhabitants, the 13th-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia, and the 28th- ...

abbeys. When the

Kulturkampf (, 'culture struggle') was the conflict that took place from 1872 to 1878 between the Catholic Church led by Pope Pius IX and the government of Prussia led by Otto von Bismarck. The main issues were clerical control of education and ecclesiastic ...

Chancellor Chancellor ( la, cancellarius) is a title of various official positions in the governments of many nations. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the or lattice work screens of a basilica or law cou ...

Bismarck expelled the Jesuits from Germany, the exiled scholastics, after a short stay at Stella Matutina, found refuge in a Jesuit college, Ditton Hall in Lancashire in England and, finally, in 1881 moved to St Beuno's in Wales. After a year of private study he became Professor of Canon Law at Ditton Hall and later at St Beuno's. Between 1882 and 1906 he taught canon law at the

Gregorian University The Pontifical Gregorian University ( it, Pontificia Università Gregoriana; also known as the Gregorian or Gregoriana,) is a higher education ecclesiastical school (pontifical university) located in Rome, Italy. The Gregorian originated as ...

, the last two years spent there he also served as its

rector Rector (Latin for the member of a vessel's crew who steers) may refer to: Style or title *Rector (ecclesiastical), a cleric who functions as an administrative leader in some Christian denominations *Rector (academia), a senior official in an edu ...

. After the death of Luis Martín, the vicar general summoned a congregation for August 31, 1906, but it began after a day's postponement on September 1 and would last until October 18. On the third ballot taken on September 8, the 64-year-old Wernz was elected general. During his generalate he vigorously promoted the spiritual life, opened missions and created provinces in all parts of the world. The whole continent of

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

was one of his special interests and he approved the setting up of provinces, houses, and colleges the length and breadth of that vast territory. Father Martín had set up the famous ''Monumenta Historica'' and Wernz continued his support and encouraged Jesuit writers to take up this important work, which they did with enthusiasm. He was instrumental in the founding of the Jesuit periodicals "Voces e Maria ad Lacum" which became " Stimmen der Zeit" in Germany and another, "Przeglad Powszechny", in Poland. One of his last letters written on December 25, 1913, to the Society was on the celebration of the centenary of the society's restitution, to take place the following year. Wernz had been General for seven years and eleven months, from September 8, 1906, until he died on August 19, 1914. His death occurred only a few hours before that of

Pope Pius X Pope Pius X ( it, Pio X; born Giuseppe Melchiorre Sarto; 2 June 1835 – 20 August 1914) was head of the Catholic Church from 4 August 1903 to his death in August 1914. Pius X is known for vigorously opposing modernist interpretations of C ...

and a mere three weeks after the outbreak of the First World War. It would be a difficult time for his successor to begin leading an international Society in a world internationally shattered. His tomb can be found in the Jesuit Mausoleum at the Roman Campo Verano cemetery.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wernz, Franz Xavier Superiors General of the Society of Jesus 19th-century German Jesuits 1842 births 1914 deaths People from Rottweil 20th-century German Jesuits