Anton Anderledy

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Anton Maria Anderledy, S.J., (June 3, 1819 - January 18, 1892) was the twenty-third Superior General of the Society of Jesus. He was born in Berisal, Switzerland. He entered the Jesuits at Brig in 1839, and after the novitiate, taught the classics at the college of Freiburg, where he was excelled as a Latin scholar. When the Jesuits were expelled from Switzerland in 1848, Anderledy came with fifty others to the United States. He was sent to St. Louis, Missouri to complete his studies, and was ordained there the same year by Archbishop Peter Richard Kenrick. Anderledy was appointed pastor of the German congregation at Green Bay, Wisconsin, where he devoted himself with great energy to his flock for two years. He was recalled to Germany in 1850, and was assigned to one of the missionary bands of the German Province. In 1853, he was chosen to be rector of Jesuit students in Cologne. He accompanied them to Paderborn and remained in charge of their studies until 1859, when he was appointed Provincial of the German Province. During Father Anderledy's term of office, which lasted six years, he purchased the splendid medieval abbey of Maria Laach, where he established the province-house of higher studies. In 1865, he was sent to Maria-Laach as professor of moral theology, which he did through 1870.

In 1870, Anderledy was called to Rome and made Assistant-General of the Society, for the German-speaking provinces. He was elected Vicar-General with the right of succession to then-General Pieter Beckx in 1883. On Beckx's death in 1887, Anderledy assumed all the duties of the Superior-General. During this time, the Jesuits were under being banned in many of the nations of Europe, so making provision for the Society in exile became Anderledy's principal preoccupation. At the same time, however, in the Americas and in the missions the Jesuits flourished. He edited and published a new edition of Reuter's Neo-Confessarius, which he annotated. In his administration of the Jesuits, Anderledy was known for great firmness of character, as well as for a modern interest in scientific studies in Jesuit schools. He died at Fiesole, Italy in 1892.

Preceded by Pieter Beckx

Superior General of the Society of Jesus 1887–1892

Succeeded by Luis Martín

[edit] References

This article incorporates text from the public-domain Catholic Encyclopedia of 1913.

• Who Was Who in America: Historical Volume, 1607-1896. Chicago: Marquis Who's Who, 1967.