Joseph Othmar Rauscher
|
His Eminence Joseph Othmar von Rauscher |
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|---|---|
| Cardinal, Archbishop of Vienna | |
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| Church | Roman Catholic |
| Archdiocese | Vienna |
| Installed | 15 August 1853 |
| Term ended | 24 November 1875 |
| Predecessor | Vinzenz Eduard Milde |
| Successor | Johann Rudolf Kutschker |
| Other posts | Cardinal-Priest of Santa Maria della Vittoria |
| Orders | |
| Ordination | 21 March 1823 |
| Consecration | 15 April 1849 |
| Created Cardinal | 17 December 1855 by Pius IX |
| Rank | Cardinal-Priest |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
October 6, 1797 Vienna Austria |
| Died | November 24, 1875 (aged 78) Vienna Austro-Hungarian Empire |
| Buried | St. Stephen's Cathedral, Vienna |
| Nationality | Austrian |
| Previous post | Bishop of Seckau (1849–1853) |
| Coat of arms |  |
Joseph Othmar Ritter von Rauscher (6 October 1797 in Vienna – 24 November 1875 in Vienna) was an Austrian Prince-Archbishop of Vienna and Cardinal.
He received his earlier education at the gymnasium in Vienna, devoting himself chiefly to the study of jurisprudence; he also gave much time to the study of poetry, and many examples of his verses have survived. Later his desire to enter Holy Orders was opposed by his parents, but he finally overcame their objections.
After his ordination he was appointed curate in Hütteldorf, and later professor of church history and canon law at Salzburg, where Friedrich Prince Schwarzenberg, director of the Oriental Academy at Vienna, was among his pupils. In January, 1849, Cardinal Schwarzenberg named his former teacher Prince-Bishop of Sekkau, "in recognition of his distinguished qualities, knowledge, and services".
In this capacity Rauscher introduced pastoral conferences, and restored to the Redemptorists their mission houses. He also fostered religious associations, and put an end to the intrigues of the Rongeaner, although important business detained him for the most part in Vienna. He attended the episcopal assembly which inaugurated the ecclesiastical revival in Austria; between 29 April and 20 June 1849, twenty-five bishops and four episcopal proxies held sixty sessions. The last in order of consecration, Rauscher took the most prominent part in the transactions. He laid before the assembly a promemoria, which served as the programme of the business, and drafted five of the seven memorials addressed to the Ministry of the Interior. He also drew up the decrees to serve for the bishops "as the common rule of their aim and activity". The pastoral of the bishops to the clergy was also composed by him. Before the bishops separated, they chose a committee of five members for the settlement of the memorials and the arrangement of all current affairs. As the reporter of this committee, he acted at times as its sole agent.
Rauscher was the father of the Austrian Concordat. On 14 September 1852, a cabinet order appeared, naming him imperial plenipotentiary for the conclusion of a concordat. The negotiations were long and troublesome; during them Rauscher was named Prince-Archbishop of Vienna, and made his solemn entry into the Cathedral of St. Stephen on 15 August 1853. To promote the Concordat he found it necessary to visit Rome, where he was engaged in the most difficult negotiations for seven months. He was thus able to take part in the solemnities in connexion with the definition of the Immaculate Conception. Finally, on 18 August 1855, the Concordat was signed and on 5 November it was published as a law "applicable throughout the empire". For the homogeneous introduction of the concordat sixty-six bishops assembled in Vienna in 1856. Rauscher was raised to the cardinalate in 1855. By 1 January 1857, ecclesiastical courts, for which Rauscher composed the instructions (Instructio pro indiciis ecclesiasticis), were established in all the episcopal sees. Provincial synods prescribed the special application of the Concordat to the individual dioceses. The decrees of the Viennese Council of 1858, directed by Rauscher and ratified by Rome, served as an important form of clerical life and ecclesiastical activity.
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