Richard Pauli-Stravius (1584/90–1654) was a Roman Catholic prelate who served as a papal diplomat (1634–1642) and as Auxiliary Bishop to Ferdinand of Bavaria for the

Diocese of Liège In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associate ...

(1642–1654) with a titular appointment as bishop of Dionysias.

Biography

Pauli-Stravius was born at Kuttekoven in the

Prince-Bishopric of Liège The Prince-Bishopric of Liège or Principality of Liège was an ecclesiastical principality of the Holy Roman Empire that was situated for the most part in present-day Belgium. It was an Imperial Estate, so the bishop of Liège, as its prince, ...

(now

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

), the son of Laurent Pauwels and Anna Strauven.F. Claeys Bouuaert, "Pauli-Stravius (Richard)", ''

Biographie Nationale de Belgique The ''Biographie nationale de Belgique'' (French; "National Biography of Belgium") is a biographical dictionary of Belgium. It was published by the Royal Academy of Belgium in 44 volumes between 1866 and 1986. A continuation series, entitled the ' ...

''
vol. 32
(Brussels, 1964), 563-565. His date of birth has been given as around 1584 and around 1590. Paul Bergmans, "Pauli-Stravius (Richard)", ''

''
vol. 16
(Brussels, 1901), 708-709. From around 1604 he and his brother, Georges Pauli-Stravius, studied in Rome together, where he graduated

doctor of both laws A doctor of both laws, from the Latin ''doctor utriusque juris'', or ''juris utriusque doctor'', or ''doctor juris utriusque'' ("doctor of both laws") (abbreviations include: JUD, IUD, DUJ, JUDr., DUI, DJU, Dr.iur.utr., Dr.jur.utr., DIU, UJD a ...

in 1611 and became protonotary apostolic. While in papal service in Rome he acquired a number of absentee appointments in the Prince-Bishopric of Liège, with a

canonry A canon (from the Latin , itself derived from the Greek , , "relating to a rule", "regular") is a member of certain bodies in subject to an ecclesiastical rule. Originally, a canon was a cleric living with others in a clergy house or, later, i ...

Tongeren Tongeren (; french: Tongres ; german: Tongern ; li, Tóngere ) is a city and municipality located in the Belgian province of Limburg, in the southeastern corner of the Flemish region of Belgium. Tongeren is the oldest town in Belgium, as the onl ...

from 1606 and a benefice in

Borgloon Borgloon (; french: Looz, ; li, Loeën) is a city and municipality located in the Belgian province of Limburg. On January 1, 2006, Borgloon had a total population of 10,697. The total area is 51.12 km2 (19.74 sq mi) which gives a population d ...

from 1616. In 1618 he was appointed secretary to the

Congregation of Bishops and Regulars The Congregation of Bishops and Regulars () was a department of the Roman Curia that, beginning in the late 16th century, managed the diocesan bishops and those individuals, both male and female, and establishments associated with religious orders. ...

. Pauli-Stravius returned to the

Low Countries The term Low Countries, also known as the Low Lands ( nl, de Lage Landen, french: les Pays-Bas, lb, déi Niddereg Lännereien) and historically called the Netherlands ( nl, de Nederlanden), Flanders, or Belgica, is a coastal lowland region in N ...

in 1624, resigning his canonry in Tongeren to take up a position as archdeacon of

Arras Cathedral Arras Cathedral (French: ''Cathédrale Notre-Dame-et-Saint-Vaast d'Arras'') is the Catholic church in the city of Arras, France. The cathedral is the seat of the Bishops of Arras. History The original cathedral of Arras, constructed between 1030 a ...

, becoming

vicar general A vicar general (previously, archdeacon) is the principal deputy of the bishop of a diocese for the exercise of administrative authority and possesses the title of local ordinary. As vicar of the bishop, the vicar general exercises the bishop' ...

to Bishop Paul Boudot. Richard was ordained a priest in Liège in 1631."Bishop Richard Paul Stravius"
''

Catholic-Hierarchy.org ''Catholic-Hierarchy.org'' is an online database of bishops and dioceses of the Roman Catholic Church and Eastern Catholic Churches. The website is not officially sanctioned by the Church. It is run as a private project by David M. Cheney in ...

''. David M. Cheney. (Self-published source)."Bishop Richard Pauli-Stravius"
''GCatholic.org''. Gabriel Chow. (Self-published source). In 1634, he was appointed Apostolic Internuncio to Flanders, the pope's interim diplomatic agent at the Brussels court in expectation of the arrival of Lelio Falconieri as nuncio. Falconieri in the event never presented his credentials, and in 1637 his appointment was rescinded, so Pauli-Stravius continued to act as the papal diplomat on the spot until after

Cardinal-Infante Ferdinand of Austria Cardinal-Infante Ferdinand (also known as Don Fernando de Austria, Cardenal-Infante Fernando de España and as Ferdinand von Österreich; May 1609 or 1610 – 9 November 1641) was Governor of the Spanish Netherlands, Cardinal of the Holy Catholic ...

's death in November 1641, when the Brussels nunciature was wound down. In 1637 he became a canon of

Cambrai Cathedral Cambrai Cathedral (french: Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Grâce de Cambrai) is a Catholic church located in Cambrai, Nord, France, and is the seat of the Archbishop of Cambrai. The cathedral was registered as a '' monument historique'' on 9 August ...

, and in 1638 archdeacon of Cambrai.

Ferdinand III, Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand III (Ferdinand Ernest; 13 July 1608, in Graz – 2 April 1657, in Vienna) was from 1621 Archduke of Austria, King of Hungary from 1625, King of Croatia and Bohemia from 1627 and Holy Roman Emperor from 1637 until his death in 1657. ...

, ennobled Pauli-Stravius and his family on 18 May 1640. In 1641, both Richard and his brother Georges were nominated as auxiliary bishops to Ferdinand of Bavaria, who while ruling as prince-bishop of Liège and

archbishop-elector of Cologne The Archbishop of Cologne is an archbishop governing the Archdiocese of Cologne of the Catholic Church in western North Rhine-Westphalia and is also a historical state in the Rhine holding the birthplace of Beethoven and northern Rhineland-Palati ...

had not himself received episcopal ordination. On 2 February 1642, Stravius was consecrated bishop of Dionysias by Jacobus Boonen,

Archbishop of Mechelen In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdioc ...

, with Anthonius Triest, Bishop of Ghent, and

Gaspard Nemius Gaspard du Bois, Latinized Nemius (1587–1667) was the sixth bishop of Antwerp and the ninth archbishop of Cambrai. Life Nemius was born in 's-Hertogenbosch on 23 April 1587. He studied at the University of Douai, graduating Doctor of Sacred Theo ...

Bishop of Antwerp The Diocese of Antwerp is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in Belgium. The diocese was restored in 1961. It is a suffragan in the ecclesiastical province of the metropolitan Archdiocese of Mechelen-Brusse ...

, as co-consecrators. In 1649 he negotiated a reconciliation between Ferdinand and the city of Liège at

Huy Huy ( or ; nl, Hoei, ; wa, Hu) is a city and municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Liège, Belgium. Huy lies along the river Meuse, at the mouth of the small river Hoyoux. It is in the ''sillon industriel'', the former industrial ...

. He served as auxiliary bishop of Liège until his death on 24 January 1654, and was buried in the Ursuline church in Liège. He left a reputation for argumentativeness and venality.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pauli-Stravius, Richard People from Borgloon 17th-century Roman Catholic bishops in the Holy Roman Empire Bishops appointed by Pope Urban VIII 1580s births 1654 deaths