Leopold Maximilian Graf von Firmian (11 October 1766,
Trento
Trento ( or ; Ladin language, Ladin and ; ; ; ; ; ), also known in English as Trent, is a city on the Adige, Adige River in Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol in Italy. It is the capital of the Trentino, autonomous province of Trento. In the 16th ...
– 29 November 1831,
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 Auxiliary Bishop in Passau and Titular Bishop of Tiberias from 1797, from 1800 to 1816 Bishop of Lavant, was appointed Archbishop of Salzburg in 1816, but in 1818 was only confirmed as administrator of the
Archdiocese of Salzburg
The Archdiocese of Salzburg (; ) is a Latin rite archdiocese of the Catholic Church centered in Salzburg, Austria. It is also the principal diocese of the ecclesiastical province of Salzburg. The archdiocese is one of two Austrian archdioceses, ...
nobility
Nobility is a social class found in many societies that have an aristocracy. It is normally appointed by and ranked immediately below royalty. Nobility has often been an estate of the realm with many exclusive functions and characteristics. T ...
of Firmian, he was
canon
Canon or Canons may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* Canon (fiction), the material accepted as officially written by an author or an ascribed author
* Literary canon, an accepted body of works considered as high culture
** Western canon, th ...
of
Salzburg
Salzburg is the List of cities and towns in Austria, fourth-largest city in Austria. In 2020 its population was 156,852. The city lies on the Salzach, Salzach River, near the border with Germany and at the foot of the Austrian Alps, Alps moun ...
and
Passau
Passau (; ) is a city in Lower Bavaria, Germany. It is also known as the ("City of Three Rivers"), as the river Danube is joined by the Inn (river), Inn from the south and the Ilz from the north.
Passau's population is about 50,000, of whom ...
in 1780. On 23 September 1792, he was
ordained
Ordination is the process by which individuals are Consecration in Christianity, consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the religious denomination, denominationa ...
a priest in Salzburg.
On 24 July 1797, he was appointed Auxiliary Bishop in Passau and Titular Bishop of Tiberias. The episcopal consecration was bestowed upon him on 5 November 1797 by the
Bishop of Passau
The Diocese of Passau (; ) is a Latin diocese of the Catholic Church in Germany that is a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Munich and Freising.Leopold Leonhard von Thun.
In 1800, he was appointed Bishop of Lavant and, in 1816, Archbishop of Salzburg. Because of the unclear political conditions, he was only confirmed in 1818 as the diocesan administrator. On 18 January 1822,
Emperor Francis I
Francis I (Francis Stephen; ; ; ; 8 December 1708 – 18 August 1765) was Holy Roman Emperor from 1745 to 1765, Archduke of Austria from 1740 to 1765, Duke of Lorraine and Bar from 1729 to 1737, and Grand Duke of Tuscany from 1737 to 1765. He ...
appointed him
Archbishop of Vienna
The Archbishop of Vienna is the prelate of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Vienna who is concurrently the metropolitan bishop of its ecclesiastical province which includes the dioceses of Eisenstadt, Linz and St. Pölten.
From 1469 to 1513, ...
, the Papal confirmation took place on 19 April of the same year.
He is portrayed as a praisewelling church prince who fulfilled the will of the Emperor in his diocese and allowed the interventions of late
Josephinism
Josephinism is a name given collectively to the domestic policies of Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor (1765–1790). During the ten years in which Joseph was the sole ruler of the Habsburg monarchy (1780–1790), he attempted to legislate a series o ...
in church life. He strove for the church song and had in 1824 created a directory of all songs that were sung in the parishes. During his tenure came the founding of the ''
Leopoldine Society
The Leopoldine Society was an organization established in Vienna for the purpose of aiding Catholic missions in North America. Based on the French model of the Society for the Propagation of the Faith, the Leopoldine Society was founded in 1829 in ...
of the
Austrian Empire
The Austrian Empire, officially known as the Empire of Austria, was a Multinational state, multinational European Great Powers, great power from 1804 to 1867, created by proclamation out of the Habsburg monarchy, realms of the Habsburgs. Duri ...
in support of the American missions'' on 13 May 1829.
In 1894, ''Firmiangasse'' in Vienna-
Hietzing
Hietzing () is the 13th Districts of Vienna, district of Vienna (). It is located west of the central districts, west of Meidling. Hietzing is a heavily populated urban area with many residential buildings, but also contains large areas of the Vi ...
was named after him.
Bibliography
* Franz Loidl: ''Geschichte des Erzbistums Wien.'' Herold, Wien u. a. 1983, .
* Ernst Tomek: ''Kirchengeschichte Österreichs.'' Band 3: ''Das Zeitalter der Aufklärung und des Absolutismus.'' Tyrolia, Innsbruck u. a. 1959.
* Josef Wodka: ''Kirche in Österreich. Wegweiser durch ihre Geschichte.'' Herder, Wien 1959.