Emerich Sinelli, OFMCap (29 June 1622, Komorn – 25 February 1685,

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

) was a

Capuchin friar The Order of Friars Minor Capuchin (; postnominal abbr. OFMCap) is a religious order of Franciscan friars within the Catholic Church, one of three " First Orders" that reformed from the Franciscan Friars Minor Observant (OFMObs, now OFM), the ot ...

and

Prince-Bishop of Vienna The Archdiocese of Vienna () is a Latin Church archdiocese of the Catholic Church in Austria. It was erected as the Diocese of Vienna on 18 January 1469 out of the Diocese of Passau, and elevated to an archdiocese on 1 June 1722. The episcopa ...

Biography

He was born the son of a butcher of the then Hungarian town of

Komárom Komárom (Hungarian: ; or ; , later ; ) is a city in Hungary on the south bank of the Danube in Komárom-Esztergom County. Komárom fortress played an important role in the Hungarian Revolution of 1848 and many contemporary English sources r ...

, Michael Senelli, and baptized under the name Johann Anton. He studied first in

Linz Linz (Pronunciation: , ; ) is the capital of Upper Austria and List of cities and towns in Austria, third-largest city in Austria. Located on the river Danube, the city is in the far north of Austria, south of the border with the Czech Repub ...

and then

Philosophy Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

Ingolstadt Ingolstadt (; Austro-Bavarian language, Austro-Bavarian: ) is an Independent city#Germany, independent city on the Danube, in Upper Bavaria, with 142,308 inhabitants (as of 31 December 2023). Around half a million people live in the metropolitan ...

, entered the

Capuchins Capuchin can refer to: *Order of Friars Minor Capuchin, an order of Roman Catholic friars *Capuchin Poor Clares, an order of Roman Catholic contemplative religious sisters *Capuchin monkey, primates of the genus ''Cebus'' and ''Sapajus'', named af ...

at age twenty-one and took the

religious name A religious name is a type of given name bestowed for religious purposes, and which is generally used in such contexts. Christianity Catholic Church Baptismal name In baptism, Catholic Church, Catholics are given a Christian name, which should n ...

''Emerich''. In 1644 he made his

perpetual vows Religious vows are the public vows made by the members of religious communities pertaining to their conduct, practices, and views. In the Buddhist tradition, in particular within the Mahayana and Vajrayana traditions, many different kinds of re ...

in the Capuchin convent in

Gmunden Gmunden () is a town in Upper Austria, in the district of Gmunden (district), Gmunden. It has 13,204 inhabitants (estimates 2016 ). Geography Gmunden covers an area of and has a median elevation of . It is situated next to the lake Traunsee on t ...

. Sinelli was the first missionary designated for the conversion of

Protestants Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

Lower Austria Lower Austria ( , , abbreviated LA or NÖ) is one of the nine states of Austria, located in the northeastern corner of the country. Major cities are Amstetten, Lower Austria, Amstetten, Krems an der Donau, Wiener Neustadt and Sankt Pölten, which ...

, then in

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

and in the Viennese Schottenkirche. In his orations he denounced the grievances at court and the greed of the dignitaries and became an advisor to

Emperor Leopold I Leopold I (Leopold Ignaz Joseph Balthasar Franz Felician; ; 9 June 1640 – 5 May 1705) was Holy Roman Emperor, King of Hungary, List of Croatian monarchs, Croatia, and List of Bohemian monarchs, Bohemia. The second son of Ferdinand III, Holy Rom ...

. The expulsion of Jews from the

Leopoldstadt Leopoldstadt (; ; "Leopold-Town") is the 2nd municipal district of Vienna () in Austria. there are 103,233 inhabitants over . It is situated in the heart of the city and, together with Brigittenau (20th district), forms a large island surrou ...

in 1670 was carried out on his advisement. On 17 November 1680, the Emperor appointed him

, but as a

mendicant A mendicant (from , "begging") is one who practices mendicancy, relying chiefly or exclusively on alms to survive. In principle, Mendicant orders, mendicant religious orders own little property, either individually or collectively, and in many i ...

Sinelli was reluctant to accept this honor.

Pope Innocent XI Pope Innocent XI (; ; 16 May 1611 – 12 August 1689), born Benedetto Odescalchi, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 21 September 1676 until his death on 12 August 1689. Political and religious tensions with ...

had to order Sinelli through an

apostolic nuncio An apostolic nuncio (; also known as a papal nuncio or simply as a nuncio) is an ecclesiastical diplomat, serving as an envoy or a permanent diplomatic representative of the Holy See to a state or to an international organization. A nuncio is ...

to accept his consecration, which took place on 4 May 1681 and was officiated by Nuncio Francesco Buonvisi. Sinelli was then made First Minister on the Imperial Privy Council in 1682, but continued to lead his characteristically modest life. In his episcopal functions he was represented by the

Bishop of Wiener-Neustadt The former Roman Catholic Diocese of Wiener Neustadt in Lower Austria existed from 1469 to 1785. In 1990, it was re-established as a titular see which is held by the bishop for the Military Services in Austria. History Upon the request of the ...

Leopold Karl von Kollonitsch Leopold Karl von Kollonitsch (also spelt ''Collonicz'', ''Colonitz'', ''Kollonitz'', ''Kolonits'' and ''Kolonić''; 26 October 1631 – 20 January 1707) or Lipót Kollonich was a cardinal of the Holy Roman Church, Archbishop of Kalocsa and late ...

. During his tenure came the

Second Turkish Siege The second (symbol: s) is a unit of time derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes, and finally to 60 seconds each (24 × 60 × 60 = 86400). The current and formal definition in the International System of Un ...

in 1683, in which

Marco d'Aviano Mark of Aviano (), born Carlo Domenico Cristofori (November 17, 1631 – August 13, 1699) was an Italian Capuchin friar. In 2003, he was beatified by Pope John Paul II. Life Carlo Domenico Cristofori was born in Aviano, a small community in ...

served as the

Papal legate 300px, A woodcut showing Henry II of England greeting the Pope's legate. A papal legate or apostolic legate (from the ancient Roman title '' legatus'') is a personal representative of the Pope to foreign nations, to some other part of the Catho ...

in Vienna. Sinelli at first fled the besieged city with the Imperial Court, but after an Imperial victory at the

Battle of Kahlenberg The Battle of Vienna took place at Kahlenberg Mountain near Vienna on 1683 after the city had been besieged by the Ottoman Empire for two months. The battle was fought by the Holy Roman Empire (led by the Habsburg monarchy) and the Polish–Lit ...

, he returned to the city on 14 September with the Emperor and initiated the reconstruction of destroyed churches. Sinelli died before receiving his elevation to

cardinal Cardinal or The Cardinal most commonly refers to * Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **''Cardinalis'', genus of three species in the family Cardinalidae ***Northern cardinal, ''Cardinalis cardinalis'', the common cardinal of ...

, and is buried in the episcopal tomb of St. Stephen's Cathedral in Vienna.

Bibliography

* * Rudolf Leeb u. a.: ''Geschichte des Christentums in Österreich. Von der Antike bis zur Gegenwart''. Uebereuter, Wien 2003, * Franz Loidl: ''Geschichte des Erzbistums Wien''. Herold, Wien 1983, * Ernst Tomek: ''Kirchengeschichte Österreichs''. Tyrolia, Innsbruck - Wien - München 1935-59

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sinelli, Emerich 1622 births 1685 deaths Bishops of Vienna 17th-century Roman Catholic bishops in Austria People from Komárno Capuchin bishops