Johann Peter Kirsch (3 November 1861 – 4 February 1941) was a

Luxembourgish Luxembourgish ( ; also ''Luxemburgish'', ''Luxembourgian'', ''Letzebu(e)rgesch''; Luxembourgish: ) is a West Germanic language that is spoken mainly in Luxembourg. About 400,000 people speak Luxembourgish worldwide. As a standard form of th ...

ecclesiastical historian __NOTOC__ Church history or ecclesiastical history as an academic discipline studies the history of Christianity and the way the Christian Church has developed since its inception. Henry Melvill Gwatkin defined church history as "the spiritua ...

and biblical archaeologist.

Life

Johann Peter Kirsch was born in Dippach, Luxembourg, the son of Andreas and Katherine Didier Kirsch. At the age of ten, he went to live with his maternal uncle, Johann Jakob Didier, a priest at Fels. He began his high school education at the Atheneum, and then went to the seminary."Kirsch, Right Reverend Monsignor Johann", ''The Catholic Encyclopedia and Its Makers'', 1917
/ref> He was ordained a priest on 23 August 1884. That autumn he was sent to Rome to attend the

Collegio Teutonico The Collegio Teutonico (German College), historically often referred to by its Latin name Collegium Germanicum, is one of the Pontifical Colleges of Rome. The German College is the Pontifical College established for future ecclesiastics of German ...

. From 1884 to 1890 he studied archeology, paleography and diplomacy at the Collegio Apollinare and at other papal universities in Rome.Baum, Wilhelm, "Kirsch, Johann Peter", ''Neue Deutsche Biographie'' 11 (1977), p. 672
/ref> Kirsch was a student of renowned archaeologist

Giovanni Battista de Rossi Giovanni Battista (Carlo) de Rossi (23 February 1822 – 20 September 1894) was an Italian archaeologist, famous even outside his field for rediscovering early Christian catacombs. Life and works Born in Rome, he was the son of Commendatore Ca ...

. In 1887 he was a co-founder of the "Roman Quarterly". Rome Campo Santo Teutonico 05

In the spring of 1888, he and Francesco Saverio Cavallari studied inscriptions and catacombs in

Syracuse Syracuse may refer to: Places Italy * Syracuse, Sicily, or spelled as ''Siracusa'' * Province of Syracuse United States *Syracuse, New York **East Syracuse, New York ** North Syracuse, New York * Syracuse, Indiana *Syracuse, Kansas *Syracuse, M ...

; in Naples he examined lead bulls. That December, Kirsch became the first Director of the Historical Institute of the Görres Society in Rome. From 1889 to 1932 he was professor of

patristics Patristics or patrology is the study of the early Christian writers who are designated Church Fathers. The names derive from the combined forms of Latin ''pater'' and Greek ''patḗr'' (father). The period is generally considered to run from ...

and biblical archaeology at the

University of Fribourg The University of Fribourg (french: Université de Fribourg; german: Universität Freiburg) is a public university located in Fribourg, Switzerland. The roots of the university can be traced back to 1580, when the notable Jesuit Peter Canisi ...

,"Kirsch, Johann Peter", ''L'Encyclopedia Italiana
/ref> where

Clemens August Graf von Galen Clemens Augustinus Emmanuel Joseph Pius Anthonius Hubertus Marie Graf von Galen (16 March 1878 – 22 March 1946), better known as ''Clemens August Graf von Galen'', was a German count, Bishop of Münster, and cardinal of the Catholic Church ...

was one of his students. Kirsch held archaeological lectures and seminars in German and French. In 1907 he founded the "Swiss Journal of Church History". Kirsch spent several weeks in Rome every year and did extensive studies on the early churches of Rome.Rousseau, Philip. "The Roman Tituli", ''A Companion to Late Antiquity'', John Wiley & Sons, 2012
He also carried out fundamental research on curial financial management in the 13th and 14th centuries. In 1925,

Pope Pius XI Pope Pius XI ( it, Pio XI), born Ambrogio Damiano Achille Ratti (; 31 May 1857 – 10 February 1939), was head of the Catholic Church from 6 February 1922 to his death in February 1939. He was the first sovereign of Vatican City f ...

asked Kirsch to direct the Pontificio Istituto di Archeologia Cristiana in Rome. In 1932, Kirsch was made a

prothonotary apostolic In the Roman Catholic Church, protonotary apostolic (PA; Latin: ''protonotarius apostolicus'') is the title for a member of the highest non-episcopal college of prelates in the Roman Curia or, outside Rome, an honorary prelate on whom the pop ...

. Monsignor Kirsch contributed many articles to the ''

Catholic Encyclopedia The ''Catholic Encyclopedia: An International Work of Reference on the Constitution, Doctrine, Discipline, and History of the Catholic Church'' (also referred to as the ''Old Catholic Encyclopedia'' and the ''Original Catholic Encyclopedia'') i ...

''. He died in Rome on 4 February 1941, and is buried at the Campo Santo Teutonico.

Works

* "Financial management of the College of Cardinals in the 13th and 14th centuries", In ''Church Historical Studies'', vol. 2, No. 4. Münster: Schöningh, 1895. * ''The doctrine of the communion of Saints in the ancient Church : a study in the history of dogma'', 1910 * "Roman titular churches in ancient times". In ''Studies of history and culture in antiquity''. Paderborn: Schöningh, 1918. * "The city of Roman in the ancient Christian feast calendar. Critical textual studies on the Roman ''Depositiones'' and the ''Martyrologium Hieronymianum''". In ''Historical liturgy sources''. Münster: Aschendorff, 1924. * "The station churches of the ''Missale Romanum''. With an investigation of the origin and development of the liturgical station rites". In ''Ecclesia orans'', vol. 19. Freiburg im Breisgau: Herder & Co., 1926. * ''The Roman Catacombs'', 1933

Notes

External links

*
Photo of Johann Peter Kirsch, Professor at Fribourg
1861 births 1941 deaths People from Dippach Deaths in Italy 19th-century Roman Catholic theologians Biblical archaeology University of Fribourg faculty Luxembourgian Roman Catholic priests Luxembourgian archaeologists Contributors to the Catholic Encyclopedia 20th-century Roman Catholic theologians 19th-century Luxembourgian historians 20th-century Luxembourgian historians {{Luxembourg-bio-stub