Theodor Innitzer

From Kaiserreich

Theodor Innitzer (born in Neugeshrei, Austria-Hungary, on December, 25 1875) is an Austrian cardinal and the current Prefect of the Supreme Sacred Congregation of the Holy Office and Minister of Interior of the Italian Federation.

Biography

Early Life

Theodor Innitzer was born in Neugeshrei, a small town in Bohemia, a constituent part of Austria-Hungary, on December 25 1875.

He entered the seminary in 1898 and was ordained priest in 1902. In 1906 he achieved a degree in theology.

Career in the Chuch

From 1913 to 1932 Innitzer was Chair for New Testament Exegesis at the University of Vienna, where he was chosen as Rector in 1928 and 1929.

In 1932 he was appointed as Archbishop of Vienna and Pope Pius XI elevated him to cardinal on March 13 1933. One year later, he was named Prefect of the Supreme Sacred Congregation of the Holy Office, the Holy Office being the successor institution to the Inquisition, making a natural appointed for the position of Minister of Interior.

Innitzer has recently been criticized by the more liberal cardinals of the Church in Rome because he refused to condemn the rising national-populists Greater German People's Party and has advocated preventive attacks against Syndicalist countries, rising the tension with the Commune of France and the Socialist Republic of Italy. He has also been attacked for supporting the monarchist cause in the Italian Federation, advocating the return of an Habsburg King in the person of Josef von Österreich-Toskana.