Joseph Deharbe (11 April 1800 at Strasbourg,

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– 8 November 1871 at

Maria-Laach Maria Laach Abbey (in German language, German: ''Abtei Maria Laach'', in Latin: ''Abbatia Maria Lacensis'' or ''Abbatia Maria ad Lacum'') is a Benedictine order, Benedictine abbey situated on the southwestern shore of the Laacher See (Lake Laac ...

) was a French Jesuit theologian and catechist.

Life

He entered the

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in 1817 and after teaching for eleven years at the Jesuit College at Brieg, Switzerland, he became in 1840 a missionary and catechist in Köthen, Germany. With Father Rohe, S.J., he established at Lucerne in 1845 the academy of St. Charles Borromeo. In 1847 he left Switzerland, which had become hostile to Jesuits. After that he was chiefly engaged in giving missions in Germany.

Works

As a catechist in Köthen he felt the lack of a good catechism, and was encouraged by his superior, Fr. Devis, to compose one. As a model he took the

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catechism of 1842 and made use also of other good textbooks, notably of

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's catechism. He completed his first catechism, called "Katholischer Katechismus oder Lehrbegriff" in 1847. In 1848 it appeared anonymously at Ratisbon and immediately won approval. Bishop Blum of Linsburg introduced it officially into his

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the same year; the following year the bishops of

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and

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did likewise for their dioceses. In 1850 the Bavarian bishops resolved to introduce a common catechism for the entire kingdom, and accepted Deharbe's catechism, which was then introduced in 1853. Other German dioceses adopted it as follows:

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, 1854;

and

Paderborn Paderborn (; Westphalian: ''Patterbuorn'', also ''Paterboärn'') is a city in eastern North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, capital of the Paderborn district. The name of the city derives from the river Pader and ''Born'', an old German term for t ...

, 1855; Fulda, 1858; Ermland, 1861; Culm, 1863; Gnesen-Posen, 1868. At the same time it spread outside of Germany, in Switzerland, Austria-Hungary, and the United States. It was translated in 1851 into Magyar, then into Bohemian, Italian, and French; into Swedish and Marathi, 1861; into Polish and Lithuanian, 1862; into Slovenian, 1868; into Danish, 1869; and later into Spanish and Portuguese. It was reintroduced into Bavaria in 1908. In a revised form, Austria adopted it in 1897. Deharbe himself prepared and published at Ratisbon four extracts of his first work, titled * "Katholischer Katechismus" (1847); (In English: A Complete Catechism of the Catholic Religion) * "Kleiner katholischer Katechismus" (1847); * "Anfangsgründe der katholichen Lehre für die kleinen Schüler" (1847); * "Kleiner katholischer Katechismus" (1849–50). He preserved catechetical tradition but abandoned the division of

Peter Canisius Peter Canisius ( nl, Pieter Kanis; 8 May 1521 – 21 December 1597) was a Dutch Jesuit Catholic priest. He became known for his strong support for the Catholic faith during the Protestant Reformation in Germany, Austria, Bohemia, Moravia, Swit ...

, arranging the text-matter under chapters on Faith, Commandments, and Means of Grace. His other works, all published at Ratisbon, are: *"Die vollkommene Liebe Gottes" (1855); *"Erklärung des katholischen Katechismus (4 vols., 1857-64, fifth ed., (1880-); *"Kürzeres Handbuch zum Religionsunterrichte" (1865–68, sixth ed., Linden ed., 1898).

References

;Attribution * The entry cites: **Spirago-Mesmer, Method of Christian Doctrine (Cincinnati, 1901); **Linden, Der mittlere Deharbesche Katischismus (Ratisbon, 1900); **Thalhoffer, Entwicklung des katholischen Katechismus in Deutschland (Freiburg, 1899); ** Hermann Rolfus and Adolf Pfister, Realencyclopädie des Erziehungs und Unterrichtswesens (Mainz, 1874), passim; **Krieg, Katechtik (Freiburg, 1907); **Herder, Konversationslexicon, s. v.; **Baier, Methodik (Würzburg, 1897).

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Deharbe, Joseph 1800 births 1871 deaths 19th-century German Jesuits 19th-century German Catholic theologians 19th-century German male writers 19th-century German writers Jesuit theologians German male non-fiction writers