Marie Joséphine Goetz (7 March 1817 – 4 January 1874) was a French nun, the second

superior-general A superior general or general superior is the leader or head of an 'order' of religious persons (nuns, priests, friars, etc) or, in other words, of a 'religious institute' in the Catholic Church, and in some other Christian denominations. The super ...

of the

Society of the Sacred Heart The Society of the Sacred Heart of Jesus (; ), abbreviated RSCJ, is a Catholic centralized religious institute of consecrated life of pontifical right for women established in France by Madeleine Sophie Barat in 1800. History Madeleine Soph ...

Life

From Alsace-Lorraine, Marie Joséphine was the daughter of Joseph Goetz of

Strasbourg Strasbourg ( , ; ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est Regions of France, region of Geography of France, eastern France, in the historic region of Alsace. It is the prefecture of the Bas-Rhin Departmen ...

and Marie Anne Wagner. As her parents died when Goetz was still young, her education was left to the care of an aunt. The aunt sent her to school at the Convent of the Sacred Heart,

Besançon Besançon (, ; , ; archaic ; ) is the capital of the Departments of France, department of Doubs in the region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté. The city is located in Eastern France, close to the Jura Mountains and the border with Switzerland. Capi ...

. At the age of seventeen she entered the novitiate of the Sacred Heart at Montet and took her first

religious 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 r ...

in 1837. In 1842 she was entrusted with the charge of the school at Besançon, which was going through a difficult phase, and showed judicious management. Immediately after

profession A profession is a field of Work (human activity), work that has been successfully professionalized. It can be defined as a disciplined group of individuals, professionals, who adhere to ethical standards and who hold themselves out as, and are ...

in 1847 she was appointed mistress of novices at Conflans,

Charenton-le-Pont Charenton-le-Pont () is a Communes of France, commune situated to the southeast of Paris, France. It is located from the Kilometre Zero, centre of Paris, to the north of the confluence of the Seine and Marne (river), Marne rivers; the part of ...

. Goetz continued in this charge, to which was afterwards added the government of the house as

superior Superior may refer to: *Superior (hierarchy), something which is higher in a hierarchical structure of any kind Places * Superior (proposed U.S. state), an unsuccessful proposal for the Upper Peninsula of Michigan to form a separate state *Lak ...

, until 1864, when she was named

vicar-general A vicar general (previously, archdeacon) is the principal deputy of the bishop or archbishop of a diocese or an archdiocese for the exercise of administrative authority and possesses the title of local ordinary. As vicar of the bishop, the vicar ...

. The failing strength of Superior-general Sophie Barat, who founded the Society, made it necessary for her to have someone at hand, to whom she could communicate her views for the future. She found a full understanding of them in Josephine Goetz, who was elected superior-general in 1865. Goetz governed as superior-general for nine years. Her work was principally one of consolidation. She established a training school at Conflans to prepare the young religious for their duties as teachers, and entrusted to a small committee the revision and adaptation of the curriculum of studies to the growing needs of the order. During the

Franco-Prussian war The Franco-Prussian War or Franco-German War, often referred to in France as the War of 1870, was a conflict between the Second French Empire and the North German Confederation led by the Kingdom of Prussia. Lasting from 19 July 1870 to 28 Janua ...

and the time of the siege and Commune in Paris, Goetz was obliged to withdraw to Laval, that communications with her religious might not be cut off. She made visitations to the religious houses then existing in Europe, as far as time and health permitted - but her strength rapidly failed and she died from a stroke of paralysis, after a few days' illness.

References

;Attribution *

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Goetz, Marie Josephine 1817 births 1874 deaths 19th-century French nuns