Joseph Aloysius Kessler (german: Josef Alois Kessler, russian: Иосиф Алоиз Кесслер; August 12, 1862 – December 10, 1933) was the last

bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

of the

Diocese of Tiraspol (Russia) The Roman Catholic diocese of Tiraspol (''Dioecesis Tiraspolitanus'') was established in 1848, as a suffragan see of the Archdiocese of Mogilev. The Catholic population for which it catered was largely German in ethnic origin, although there were ...

and the last

Volga German The Volga Germans (german: Wolgadeutsche, ), russian: поволжские немцы, povolzhskiye nemtsy) are ethnic Germans who settled and historically lived along the Volga River in the region of southeastern European Russia around Saratov ...

bishop till Bishop

Joseph Werth Joseph Werth SJ (russian: Иосиф Иоганнович Верт; born October 4, 1952 in Karaganda) is Bishop of Transfiguration in Novosibirsk (Russia). Named as the Latin Church Apostolic Administrator of Siberia—a see that encompassed 4 ...

, SJ.

Biography

Joseph Kessler was born 12 of August 1862 in Louis (Ostrogovka) Government Samara. After he finished studies in the

Saratov Saratov (, ; rus, Сара́тов, a=Ru-Saratov.ogg, p=sɐˈratəf) is the largest city and administrative center of Saratov Oblast, Russia, and a major port on the Volga River upstream (north) of Volgograd. Saratov had a population of 901,36 ...

Seminary, he was ordained in 1889. He graduated from Roman Catholic Theological Academy in St. Petersburg with the degree of

Master of Theology Master of Theology ( la, Theologiae Magister, abbreviated MTh, ThM, or MTheol) is a post-graduate degree offered by universities, divinity schools, and seminaries. It can serve as a transition degree for entrance into a PhD program or as a sta ...

. In 1889 he became a vicar of a parish in Saratov, at the same time he taught in the

Seminary. After that, his life entered a period of transition. He took the following positions during the next 13 years: 1892

Simferopol Simferopol () is the second-largest city in the Crimea, Crimean Peninsula. The city, along with the rest of Crimea, is internationally recognised as part of Ukraine, and is considered the capital of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea. However, ...

parish vicar, 1895 Sulz parish priest, 1899 Chişinău (today Moldova) parish priest, 1903 Saratov Seminary inspector, and in 1904 canon lawyer. He was appointed Bishop of Tiraspol on 1 April 1904 and was consecrated the 5th Bishop of

on 28 October 1904 and took residence in the diocesan headquarters in Saratov. While Josef Kessler was Bishop of Tiraspol, the pastoral life of diocese became successful and vital. Bishop Kessler expanded the Seminary, founded a publishing house, supported work of male and female religious, visited all parishes of the giant diocese, and conducted 75,000 confirmations.I.Osipova, F. B. Chaplizky "Martirology of catholic church in the USSR"(Rus), On 14 August 1918, before the

Bolsheviks The Bolsheviks (russian: Большевики́, from большинство́ ''bol'shinstvó'', 'majority'),; derived from ''bol'shinstvó'' (большинство́), "majority", literally meaning "one of the majority". also known in English ...

captured Saratov during the

Russian Civil War , date = October Revolution, 7 November 1917 – Yakut revolt, 16 June 1923{{Efn, The main phase ended on 25 October 1922. Revolt against the Bolsheviks continued Basmachi movement, in Central Asia and Tungus Republic, the Far East th ...

, Bishop Kessler fled the city on foot, and went to

Odessa Odesa (also spelled Odessa) is the third most populous city and municipality in Ukraine and a major seaport and transport hub located in the south-west of the country, on the northwestern shore of the Black Sea. The city is also the administrativ ...

. When the

Soviet secret police The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

, or

CHEKA The All-Russian Extraordinary Commission ( rus, Всероссийская чрезвычайная комиссия, r=Vserossiyskaya chrezvychaynaya komissiya, p=fsʲɪrɐˈsʲijskəjə tɕrʲɪzvɨˈtɕæjnəjə kɐˈmʲisʲɪjə), abbreviated ...

, searched the Seminary, they found a message from the Bishop, where he declared the power of the Bolsheviks to be the power of

Antichrist In Christian eschatology, the Antichrist refers to people prophesied by the Bible to oppose Jesus Christ and substitute themselves in Christ's place before the Second Coming. The term Antichrist (including one plural form)1 John ; . 2 John . ...

. The further message warned local Catholics that, if they cooperated in any way with Soviet power, they would be excommunicated. In response, the CHEKA conducted a Russia-wide manhunt for Bishop Kessler. The Bishop secretly left Russia for Bessarabia (today divided between

Moldova Moldova ( , ; ), officially the Republic of Moldova ( ro, Republica Moldova), is a Landlocked country, landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. The List of states ...

and

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

), where he was a priest in the village of Krasne near Tarutyne. In 1921, he visited

Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the ...

and made a trip throughouy the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

to raise funds for the famine stricken

and Black Sea German farming colonies. The rest of his life was spent in the

Weimar Republic The Weimar Republic (german: link=no, Weimarer Republik ), officially named the German Reich, was the government of Germany from 1918 to 1933, during which it was a constitutional federal republic for the first time in history; hence it is al ...

, at

Zinnowitz Zinnowitz is a semi-urban Spa (resort) municipality in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern on the northern German island of Usedom on the Baltic Sea. The municipality has rail connections to Wolgast and Ahlbeck. Climate Zinnowitz has an oceanic climate t ...

on the

Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden and the North and Central European Plain. The sea stretches from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from ...

He died 10 December 1933 and was buried in

Ornbau Ornbau () is a walled town in the district of Ansbach, in Bavaria, Germany. It is situated on the river Altmühl, 15 km southeast of Ansbach Ansbach (; ; East Franconian: ''Anschba'') is a city in the German state of Bavaria. It is th ...

Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...

, next to another Bishop of Tiraspol Franz Zottmann, who was born in Ornbau.

References

External links

*http://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/bishop/bkess.html *https://web.archive.org/web/20090210053507/http://cvgs.cu-portland.edu/priests/joseph_aloysius_kessler.html *https://web.archive.org/web/20110719182412/http://cvgs.cu-portland.edu/revolution_bishop_kessler.html {{DEFAULTSORT:Kessler, Josef Alois 1862 births 20th-century Roman Catholic bishops in the Russian Empire 1933 deaths Anti-communists from the Russian Empire Emigrants from the Russian Empire to Germany German anti-communists Roman Catholic activists Volga German people Russian Roman Catholic bishops