Sebastian Gebhard Messmer

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Sebastian Gebhard Messmer (August 29, 1847 - August 4, 1930) was the archbishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Milwaukee.

Messmer was born in Goldach, Switzerland and graduated from the University of Innsbruck in Austria. On July 23, 1871 he was ordained to the Roman Catholic priesthood and moved to the United States in order to become professor of theology at Seton Hall College in South Orange, New Jersey where he served until 1889. Afterward, he studied in Rome and became a Doctor of Canon Law in 1890 and then served briefly as a professor of canon law at the Catholic University of America in Washington, D. C. On December 14, 1892 Messmer was appointed Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Green Bay, by Pope Leo XIII, and was consecrated bishop on March 27, 1892. On November 28, 1903 he was elevated to Archbishop of Milwaukee, by Pope Pius X, which he held until his death. Over his career, Messmer was engaged in editing and translating books and articles and in writing for various religious and secular publications.

Messmer had a reputation as a conservative, and he rejected socialism. He initially opposed the U.S. involvement in World War I but supported the war effort once the U.S. was committed. He also opposed the Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which instituted the nationwide prohibition of alcohol, and denounced the temperance movement as being founded on an "absolutely false principle" and as trying to undermine the Church's "most sacred mystery," the Eucharist. He forbade pastors in his archdiocese from assisting the movement but suggested they preach on the cardinal virtue of temperance.[1] He died in Goldach.

[edit] References

  1. ^ "Prelate Assails Dry Law. Archbishop Messmer Forbids Catholic Help to Amendment", The New York Times, June 25, 1918, p. 13. Retrieved on 2008-05-20. 

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