Sebastian Gebhard Messmer
|
The Most Reverend Sebastian Gebhard Messmer |
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|---|---|
| Archbishop of Milwaukee | |
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| See | Milwaukee |
| Installed | December 10, 1903 |
| Term ended | August 4, 1930 |
| Predecessor | Frederick Katzer |
| Successor | Samuel Stritch |
| Other posts | Bishop of Green Bay (1892–1903) |
| Orders | |
| Ordination | July 23, 1871 |
| Consecration | March 27, 1892 |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
August 29, 1847 Goldach, Switzerland |
| Died | August 4, 1930 (aged 82) Goldach, Switzerland |
| Denomination | Catholic Church |
Sebastian Gebhard Messmer (August 29, 1847 – August 4, 1930) was a Swiss-born prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as bishop of the Diocese of Green Bay (1892–1903) and Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee (1903–30).
Sebastian Messmer was born in Goldach, Switzerland, the eldest of five children of Sebastian and Rosa (née Baumgartner) Messmer. His father, a farmer and innkeeper, also served in the Federal Assembly of Switzerland. His mother died when he was 10 years old. He received his early education in his native village, and then attended the realschule in Rorschach for three years. From 1861 to 1866, he studied at the College of St. George, the diocesan preparatory seminary, in St. Gallen. He studied philosophy and theology at the University of Innsbruck in Austria.
Messmer was ordained to the priesthood by Bishop Atanasio Zuber on July 23, 1871. A week later, he offered his first Mass in his native Goldach. He accepted an invitation from Bishop James Roosevelt Bayley, who had visited Innsbruck to recruit missionaries for the United States, to join the Diocese of Newark in New Jersey. After arriving in September 1871, he was appointed professor of theology at Seton Hall College in South Orange, where he remained until 1889. In addition to his academic duties, he served as one of the secretaries of the Third Plenary Council of Baltimore (1884) and as pastor of St. Peter's Church in Newark (1885–86). He received a Doctor of Canon Law degree from the Apollinare University in 1890, and was professor of canon law at the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., from 1890 to 1892.
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