Paul Melchers

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.

Early life

Melchers was born in Münster to a wealthy merchant family who were related to Bishop Franz Arnold Melchers. He then studied theology at Munich under Heinrich Klee, Joseph Görres, Karl Joseph Hieronymus Windischmann and Ignaz von Döllinger.

Career

He was ordained in 1841 and assigned to duty in the village of Haltern. this became known as the Kulturkampft conflict.

The Kulturkampf was firmly resisted by Archbishop Melchers. In June, 1873, he excommunicated two priests who had joined the Old Catholics; for this and other administrative acts he was fined and imprisoned for six months (12 March–October, 1874). On 2 December 1875, the President of the Rhine Province demanded his resignation on pain of deposition; he refused, but learning that preparations were being made to deport him to Küstrin he escaped (13 December) to Maastricht and took refuge with the Franciscans. From their monastery he administered his dioceses for ten years. On different occasions he informed Pope Leo XIII of his willingness to resign for the general good. The pope at last consented, but called him to Rome, and created him cardinal on 27 July 1885.

Later life

In 1892, during a serious illness he was received into the Society of Jesus and lived as a Jesuit until his death three years later in Rome. He was laid to rest in the cathedral of Cologne.

St. Paul's Church, Cologne, completed in 1908, commemorates Melchers.

Works

Melchers' publications included: (Recollections on the Golden Jubilee of Pope Pius IX; Cologne, 1876) (Cologne, 1876) (Cologne, 1879) (Cologne, 1880) (Cologne, 1881) (Cologne, 1882) (Rome, 1892)