Paul Melchers
|
His Eminence Paul Ludolf Melchers S.J. |
|
|---|---|
| Cardinal, Archbishop of Cologne | |
 |
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| Church | Roman Catholic |
| Archdiocese | Cologne |
| Installed | 8 January 1866 |
| Term ended | 3 July 1885 |
| Predecessor | Johannes von Geissel |
| Successor | Philipp Krementz |
| Other posts | Cardinal-Priest of Santo Stefano al Monte Celio |
| Orders | |
| Ordination | 5 June 1841 |
| Consecration | 20 April 1858 |
| Created Cardinal | 27 July 1885 by Leo XIII |
| Rank | Cardinal-Priest |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
January 6, 1813 Münster Germany |
| Died | December 14, 1895 (aged 82) Rome Italy |
| Buried | Cologne Cathedral |
| Nationality | German |
| Previous post | Bishop of Osnabrück (1957-1966) |
Paul Melchers (6 January 1813 – 14 December 1895) was a Cardinal and Archbishop of Cologne. At the height of the Kulturkampf he took refuge in the Netherlands.
Melchers was born in Münster. He studied law at Bonn (1830–33), and a few years practice at Münster, took up theology at Munich under Heinrich Klee, Joseph Görres, Karl Joseph Hieronymus Windischmann and Ignaz von Döllinger. Ordained in 1841, he was assigned to duty in the village of Haltern. In 1844 he became vice-rector of the diocesan seminary, rector (1851), canon of the cathedral (1852), vicar-general (1854).
Pope Pius IX appointed him Bishop of Osnabrück (1857) and Archbishop of Cologne (1866). He inaugurated (1867) at Fulda, meetings of the German bishops. He regarded the formal definition of papal infallibility as untimely, a conviction which he, with thirteen other bishops, expressed in a letter to the pope, 4 September 1869.
In the First Vatican Council Melchers took a prominent part. At the session of 13 July 1870, he voted negatively on the question of papal infallibility; but he refused to sign an address in which fifty-five other members of the minority notified the pope of their immediate departure and reiterated their non placet. He left Rome before the fourth session, giving as his reason the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian war, and declaring his readiness to abide by the decisions of the Council.
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