He was born in 1850 in Landstuhl/Germany as the oldest of six kids to a horseshoe-maker. After studies in Innsbruck and Würzburg he was ordained a priest in 1873. In 1895 he became a member of the cathedral chapter in Speyer. In 1909 he was made archbishop of Munich and Freising. He was consecrated by the then nuncio to Germany, Andreas Franz Frühwirth. In 1914 Pope Pius X created him a cardinal with the title of San Marcello. During the first World War he was very diligent in providing pastoral care for the soldiers. He dies suddenly on April 12th 1917 because of a heart attack.
2 comments:
Ah, Cardinal Bettinger! I love it when tha cappa fully envelops the prelate like in the second picture.
A nitpick: Card. Frühwirth was not nuncio to Germany, but to the Kingdom of Bavaria; the Holy See had long tried to establish a nunciature in Berlin, but without success (even though there was a Prussian envoy to the papal court). The first nuncio to the German Empire was Eugenio Pacelli in 1920 (who had been nuncio to Bavaria since 1917, which he remained; the Munich nunciature was only suppressed in 1934).
Oops!
I stand corrected!
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