Schwetz, Johann Baptist

views updated

SCHWETZ, JOHANN BAPTIST

Theologian; b. Bosan, Moravia, 1803; d. Vienna, 1890. He taught dogmatic theology first at Olmütz and then at the University of Vienna. In 1863 he was named head of the canons of the cathedral chapter of Vienna and director of St. Augustine Seminary. In 1861 he had published his Theologia dogmatica catholica, a work remarkable for its precision, clarity, and erudition. Because of its opposition to the errors of josephinism and A. gÜnther,

it was prescribed by civil and ecclesiastical authority as the textbook in dogmatic theology for use throughout the Austro-Hungarian Empire for some years. Schwetz took part in Vatican Council I by preparing a schema against the errors of Günther.

Bibliography: h. hurter, Nomenclator literarius theologiae catholicae, 5 vol. (3rd ed. Innsbruck 190313) 5.2:151416. e. hocedez, Histoire de la théologie au XIX siècle, 3 vol. (Brussels-Paris 1952) 2:56, 343.

[c. meyer]