Biography
Early life and education
Sebastian Messmer was born in Goldach, Switzerland, the eldest of five children of Sebastian and Rosa (née Baumgartner) Messmer. His father, a farmer and innkeeper, also served in the Federal Assembly of Switzerland. His mother died when he was 10 years old. Messmer received his early education in Goldach, then attended the ''realschule'' in Rorschach (Wahlkreis), Rorschach for three years. From 1861 to 1866, he studied at the College of St. George, the diocesan preparatory seminary, in St. Gallen, St. Gallen, Switzerland. He then studied philosophy and theology at the University of Innsbruck in Austria-Hungary.Priesthood and ministry
Messmer was Holy Orders, ordained to the priesthood by Bishop Atanasio Zuber on July 23, 1871. A week later, he offered his first Mass (liturgy), Mass in Goldach. He accepted an invitation from Bishop James Roosevelt Bayley, James Bayley, who had visited Innsbruck to recruit Mission (Christianity), missionaries for the United States, to join the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Newark, Diocese of Newark in New Jersey. After arriving in New Jersey in September 1871, Messmer was appointed professor of theology at Seton Hall University, Seton Hall College in South Orange, remaining there until 1889. In addition to his academic duties, he served as one of the secretaries of the Plenary Councils of Baltimore, Third Plenary Council of Baltimore (1884) and as pastor of St. Peter's Parish in Newark, New Jersey, Newark (1885–86). Messmer received a Doctor of Canon Law degree from the Pontifical Roman Athenaeum S. Apollinare, Apollinare University in Rome in 1890, and served as a professor of Canon law (Catholic Church), canon law at the The Catholic University of America, Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., from 1890 to 1892.Bishop of Green Bay
On December 14, 1891, Messmer was appointed the fourth bishop of the Diocese of Green Bay by Pope Leo XIII. He received his Bishop (Catholic Church), episcopal consecration on March 27, 1892, from Bishop John Joseph Frederick Otto Zardetti, Otto Zardetti (his former schoolmate in Rorschach), with Bishops Winand Wigger and John Joseph Keane, John Keane serving as Consecrator, co-consecrators, at St. Peter's Church in Newark. During his 11-year tenure, Messmer encouraged the growth of parochial schools and other religious institutions. He also invited Abbot Bernard Pennings to establish the Premonstratensian, Norbertine Order in the United States, which led to the founding of St. Norbert College in De Pere, Wisconsin, De Pere.Archbishop of Milwaukee
On November 28, 1903, Messmer was appointed the fourth archbishop of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee by Pope Pius X. He was installed on December 10, 1903. He succeeded Archbishop Frederick Katzer. An opponent of Prohibition in the United States, Prohibition in the United States, Messmer issued a pastoral letter in 1918, declaring, "[People] fail to see the absolutely false principle underlying the movement and the sinister work of the enemies of the Catholic Church trying to profit by this opportunity of attacking her in the Eucharist in the Catholic Church, most sacred mystery entrusted to her." In 1921, he prohibited Catholic children in Milwaukee from participating in a Independence Day (United States), Fourth of July Pilgrim pageant, which he described as "exclusively a glorification of the Protestantism, Protestant Pilgrim (Plymouth Colony), Pilgrims," but later withdrew his objections. Messmer was also opposed to Women's suffrage in the United States, women's suffrage. He denounced the Labor unions in the United States, labor movement as being tinged with socialism, and drew criticism from Polish Catholics after condemning the ''Kuryer Polski'' newspaper. During his 26-year tenure, Messmer oversaw the establishment of Mount Mary College in Milwaukee and the elevation of Marquette College to Marquette University. He actively supported the American Federation of Catholic Societies as well as ministries for African American and Hispanic and Latino Americans, Hispanic Catholics. Nearly 30 religious orders were founded and charitable institutions were doubled during his administration; what became Catholic Charities USA, Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee, a nonprofit that still exists today, was founded in 1920. He founded the ''Catholic Herald'', the official newspaper of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee, in 1922. Messmer died on March 4, 1930, while vacationing in his Goldach, at age 82. At the time of his death, he was the oldest Catholic bishop in the United States. He is buried in Goldach. Messmer High School (Milwaukee, Wisconsin), Messmer High School in Milwaukee, was renamed in his honor in 1928.See also
* Catholic Church hierarchy * Catholic Church in the United States * Historical list of the Catholic bishops of the United States * List of Catholic bishops of the United States * Lists of patriarchs, archbishops, and bishopsReferences
External links