Walter Hermanus Jacobus Steins SJ (1 July 1810 – 7 September 1881) was a Dutch

Jesuit The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

and Catholic prelate, who became Vicar Apostolic of

Bombay Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial centre, financial capital and the list of cities i ...

(1860–1867) and

West Bengal West Bengal (; Bengali language, Bengali: , , abbr. WB) is a States and union territories of India, state in the East India, eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabi ...

(1867–1877) in India, archbishop ''ad personam'', and third Bishop of Auckland (1879–1881).

Early life

Walter Steins was born in 1810 in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

, Netherlands. He was educated there, at St Acheul,

Amiens Amiens (English: or ; ; , or ) is a city and Communes of France, commune in northern France, located north of Paris and south-west of Lille. It is the capital of the Somme (department), Somme Departments of France, department in the region ...

and at Fribourg, Switzerland. In 1832 he entered the Belgian province of the

Society of Jesus The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rome. It was founded in 1540 ...

, was ordained a priest on 8 September 1842 (in

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), and made his final profession as a

in 1849.

Vicar Apostolic in India

Steins obtained permission from his superiors to proceed to

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(at that time part of a Dutch colony) but went instead to

where he exercised his priestly ministry until 29 June 1861 when he was consecrated a Bishop and assumed the office of Vicar Apostolic. He founded the college of St Francis-Xavier In 1867 he was translated to become Vicar Apostolic of West Bengal, based in

Calcutta Kolkata, also known as Calcutta (List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern ba ...

. He brought to Bengal the French religious order of the Daughters of the Cross, founded the St Vincent's home refuge and many schools and orphanages. He began also the Bengali mission and missions to the Santals and other eastern tribes. Because of ill-health caused by a fall he was advised to return to Europe and he spent time recuperating at Conflans-sur-Seine, the novitiate of the Sisters of the Sacred Heart in Paris.G H Scholefield (ed), ''A Dictionary of New Zealand Biography'', "Walter Steins Bisschop", Department of Internal Affairs, Wellington, 1940, Vol 2, p. 327.

Bishop of Auckland

Steins recovered sufficiently to request a further appointment and on 16 May 1879 he was appointed as Bishop of Auckland. He arrived on 3 December 1879 and was 15 months in the country. He died on 7 September 1881 in Sydney, as he was, once again, returning to Europe. Archbishop Steins " ... was a distinguished theologian and linguist; broadminded and tolerant". He attended the

First Vatican Council The First Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the First Vatican Council or Vatican I, was the 20th ecumenical council of the Catholic Church, held three centuries after the preceding Council of Trent which was adjourned in 156 ...

in 1870.

Honorific eponyms

Steins Avenue in Hillsborough, Auckland was named after Bisschop in the early 1980s.

Notes

References/Sources

* E.R. Simmons, ''A Brief History of the Catholic Church in New Zealand'', Catholic Publication Centre, Auckland, 1978. * E.R. Simmons, ''In Cruce Salus, A History of the Diocese of Auckland 1848 – 1980'', Catholic Publication Centre, Auckland 1982.

External links

''Archbishop Walter Herman Jacobus Steins SJ'', Catholic Hierarchy website
(Retrieved 12 February 2011) {{DEFAULTSORT:Steins, Walter 1810 births 1881 deaths 19th-century Roman Catholic bishops in India 19th-century Dutch Jesuits People from the Auckland Region Clergy from Amsterdam 19th-century Roman Catholic bishops in New Zealand Roman Catholic bishops of Auckland New Zealand Roman Catholic archbishops