Canisius, Saint Peter

▪ Jesuit scholar

Dutch  Sint Petrus Canisius, or Kanis  

born May 8, 1521, Nijmegen [now in Netherlands]

died Dec. 21, 1597, Fribourg, Switz.; canonized 1925; feast day December 21

      doctor of the church, Jesuit scholar, and strong opponent of Protestantism who has been called the Second Apostle of Germany.

      Educated at the University of Cologne, Canisius became a Jesuit (1543) and taught at the universities of Cologne, Ingolstadt, and Vienna. He founded colleges at Munich (1559), Innsbruck (1562), Dillingen (1563), Würzburg (1567), Augsburg, and Vienna.

      Perhaps more than any of his contemporaries, Canisius delayed the advance of Protestantism by his participation in the religious discussions at Worms (1557) and at the Council of Trent and the Diet of Augsburg (1559). He sought to renew the Roman Catholic church in Germany by means of his friendship with the Holy Roman emperor and numerous magnates, by his zealous preaching in various German towns, by the extension of the Jesuit order, and especially by his desire to provide worthy and scholarly priests. His German missions won him fast friendships with persons in all walks of life, including the emperor. He did important work in southern Germany and Austria, Bohemia, and Switzerland, where in 1580 he settled in Fribourg and founded a Jesuit college (now the University of Fribourg).

      His major work was the Triple catechism (1555–58), containing a lucid exposition of Roman Catholic dogma. It became the most famous catechism of the Counter-Reformation, going through 400 editions in 150 years.

Additional Reading

James Broderick, Saint Peter Canisius, S.J., 1521–1597 (1935, reissued as Saint Peter Canisius, 1998).

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