Peter Joseph Savelberg (10 February 1827,

Heerlen Heerlen (; ) is a city and a Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the southeast of the Netherlands. It is the third largest settlement proper in the province of Limburg (Netherlands), Limburg. Measured as municipality, it is the f ...

– 11 February 1907,

) was a

Roman-Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deity, deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in parti ...

and

congregation Congregation may refer to: Religion *Church (congregation), a religious organization that meets in a particular location *Congregation (Roman Curia), an administrative body of the Catholic Church *Religious congregation, a type of religious instit ...

founder (missionary).

Biography

Peter Savelberg attended school in Heerlen and after that at

Rolduc Rolduc is a medieval abbey located on the edge of the town of Kerkrade in the far south-east of the Netherlands. It is today a Roman Catholic seminary with an affiliated conference center. The abbey is a ''rijksmonument'' (Dutch national herit ...

(1843 to 1845). Leaving his brother Balthasar Savelberg, who was in charge of a glassmaking shop in

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

, he returned to Heerlen because he could not adjust. Between 1846 and 1849 he attended Rolduc yet again, and after 1849 he gave

seminars A seminar is a form of academic instruction, either at an academic institution or offered by a commercial or professional organization. It has the function of bringing together small groups for recurring meetings, focusing each time on some part ...

Roermond Roermond (; or ) is a city, municipality, and diocese in the Limburg (Netherlands), Limburg province of the Netherlands. Roermond is a historically important town on the lower Roer on the east bank of the river Meuse. It received City rights i ...

. In 1852, Savelberg was made priest, his first task was as a teacher at the Bisschoppelijk College in Roermond (1853–1856). In 1856 he became rector of the

Franciscans The Franciscans are a group of related organizations in the Catholic Church, founded or inspired by the Italian saint Francis of Assisi. They include three independent religious orders for men (the Order of Friars Minor being the largest conte ...

Heythuysen Heythuysen (; ) is a town in the south-eastern Netherlands. History It was first mentioned in 1383 as Heythusen, and means "houses on the heath". It was located on the road from Venlo to Antwerp, and between the Bevelandse beek and the Tungelroy ...

, for whom he worked at the girl

pension A pension (; ) is a fund into which amounts are paid regularly during an individual's working career, and from which periodic payments are made to support the person's retirement from work. A pension may be either a " defined benefit plan", wh ...

Nonnenwerth close to

Bonn Bonn () is a federal city in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, located on the banks of the Rhine. With a population exceeding 300,000, it lies about south-southeast of Cologne, in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ruhr region. This ...

. In 1863 the

bishop A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...

called him back and made him

chaplain A chaplain is, traditionally, a cleric (such as a minister, priest, pastor, rabbi, purohit, or imam), or a lay representative of a religious tradition, attached to a secular institution (such as a hospital, prison, military unit, intellige ...

Schaesberg Schaesberg (; ) is a neighbourhood of Landgraaf and former village in the Netherlands, Dutch province of Limburg (Netherlands), Limburg. History The village was first mentioned in 16th century as Gaesberg. The etymology is unknown. Schaesberg ...

and in 1865 of the Saint Pancras parish in Heerlen. Savelberg founded the Little Sisters of St Joseph, a

Franciscan The Franciscans are a group of related organizations in the Catholic Church, founded or inspired by the Italian saint Francis of Assisi. They include three independent Religious institute, religious orders for men (the Order of Friars Minor bei ...

order.

Veneration

Local preliminaries for the beatification process began on 1 March 1937. Savelberg was later granted the title of

Servant of God Servant of God () is a title used in the Catholic Church to indicate that an individual is on the first step toward possible canonization as a saint. Terminology The expression ''Servant of God'' appears nine times in the Bible, the first five in ...

References

1827 births 1907 deaths People from Heerlen 19th-century Dutch Roman Catholic priests Venerated Catholics by Pope John Paul II {{Netherlands-reli-bio-stub