John Henni

John Hennigan ( John Martin Henni, * as John Martin Haenni on June 15, 1805 in Misanenga, Obersaxen, Canton of Grisons, Switzerland, † September 7, 1881 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin ), the first archbishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Milwaukee was in the time From 1875 to 1881, and an important and influential figure in the religious and cultural history of the 19th century.

Life

John Martin Henni completed 1820-1823 high school in St. Gallen and attended from 1824 to 1826 the Lyceum in Lucerne. Then he studied until 1828 at the University La Sapienza in Rome philosophy and theology.

In 1828 he emigrated under the influence of the Hanoverian missionary Friedrich Rese to America, was consecrated in Bardstown, Kentucky on February 2, 1829 priests and took care of as a traveling missionary, especially in the state of Ohio to the scattered everywhere living Catholics and taught thereby be pastoral interest to the German-speaking believers.

In 1837 he founded in Cincinnati, Ohio, the first Catholic weekly in German language, the friend of truth.

On 28 November 1843 he was appointed bishop of Milwaukee. On March 19, 1844, he received in Cincinnati by the Bishop of Cincinnati, John Baptist Purcell, episcopal ordination. Co-consecrators were the Bishop of Pittsburgh, Michael O'Connor, SJ, and the Bishop of Nashville, Richard Pius Miles OP.

Henni was one of the founders of Marquette University, which was opened two days before his death. He was also co-founder of the St. Francis Seminary in St. Francis, Wisconsin, and was able to convince some religious communities which, to settle in Milwaukee.

John Martin Henni took part in the First Vatican Council.

Expand due to the work done by Henni efforts, the Roman Catholic presence in particular German-speaking Catholics in Wisconsin, , Pope Pius IX. In February 1875, the Ecclesiastical Province of Milwaukee and raised his diocese to an archdiocese with Henni as the first Archbishop.

The main building of St. Francis Seminary, the Henni Hall, is named after Archbishop Henni and also listed on the National Register of Historic Places.