Ignatius Conrad

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The Right Reverend Ignatius Conrad OSB
Abbot
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Native name	Nicholas Conrad
Elected	March 24, 1892
Orders
Ordination	September 17, 1871 by Bishop Kaspar Willi
Rank	Abbot
Personal details
Born	(1846-11-13)November 13, 1846 Au, Switzerland
Died	March 13, 1926(1926-03-13) (aged 79) Baldegg, Switzerland
Buried	Einsiedeln Abbey
Nationality	Swiss
Denomination	Roman Catholic
Parents	Johann Conrad and Gertrude Kűng
Occupation	Abbot
Profession	Benedictine Monk

Ignatius Conrad OSB (November 13, 1846 Au, Switzerland – March 13, 1926 Baldegg, Switzerland) was a Benedictine monk, a Swiss missionary, and the first Abbot of Subiaco Abbey in Arkansas. He initially worked with the German Catholic communities in the south-western region of the United States. He would later join with religious sisters to found church and educational institutions across Arkansas, Missouri, and Texas.

Early life

Nicholas Conrad was born in the Canton of Aargau, Switzerland, on November 13, 1846, the son of Johann Conrad and Gertrude Kűng. After completing his primary education in the schools of his Canton, he continued his studies at Engelberg Abbey. Later, he studied philosophy at Einsiedeln Abbey and entered that monastery in 1867.

Monk and Priest

He made his profession of vows with the Benedictines of Einsiedeln Abbey on August 30, 1868, receiving the name Ignatius Loyola, and was ordained to the priesthood on September 17, 1871, by Bishop Kaspar Willi of the Swiss Diocese of Chur. He was then appointed to teach Latin in the Abbey school from 1872 to 1875. At the end of the 1875 school year, he was assigned to Einsiedeln’s monastic foundation in the United States, St. Meinrad Archabbey in southern Indiana, with instructions to assist his three brothers, also Benedictine monks and priests, at the foundation from Engelberg Abbey in northwest Missouri. Father Ignatius was one of five brothers who became priests, four of them joining the Benedictine Order. The eldest, Father Frowin Conrad, a monk of Engelberg Abbey, had been sent to the United States in 1872, in order to establish a Benedictine mission house in northwestern Missouri. Two other brothers, who became Fathers Pius and John, had associated themselves with him.

America

After gaining some proficiency in writing and speaking English, Father Ignatius began his missionary work in Nodaway, Worth, Gentry, and other northwestern counties of Missouri. On May 18, 1878, he was appointed Rector of the Cathedral Church in St. Joseph, Missouri, assisting Bishop John Joseph Hogan. He would later be appointed as the Administrator of the Diocese which created a controversy among the secular clergy who were not pleased that a religious priest had been appointed to this position. He continued in this work until March 24, 1892, when he was elected the first Abbot of Subiaco Abbey in Arkansas. The required blessing of the newly elected Abbot occurred on May 24, 1892, in the Cathedral Church in St. Joseph, Missouri. Bishop John Joseph Hogan undertook the solemn blessing and he was joined by the abbots of St. Meinrad Archabbey and Conception Abbey.

As the first Abbot of Subiaco Abbey, his main work for many years was the preaching of retreats and missions, both to spread the ministry of the monastery and to collect funds for the construction of a monastery and church at Subiaco. He was on the road for months at a time in the United States and in his native Switzerland in the exercise of this ministry, which relaxed in 1913, when the new monastic buildings were in the final stages of construction.

Final years

In May, 1925, Abbot Ignatius went to Rome for the election of a new Abbot Primate of the Benedictine Confederation and applied to Pope Pius XI for permission to resign his office because of ill health. Instead, the Subiaco community was authorized to choose a coadjutor Abbot, and on December 1, 1925, Father Edward Burgert was elected to this office. Abbot Ignatius’ health failed during this time and he was hospitalized in Baldegg, Switzerland, where he died on March 13, 1926. He is buried at Einsiedeln Abbey in Switzerland.

Notability

In his service as Abbot for over thirty years, Abbot Ignatius expanded the missionary outreach of the Catholic Church with his foundations of new parishes in Arkansas, Missouri, and Texas. He also:

• Served as the first Abbot and Ordinary of Subiaco Abbey. Under his leadership, the monastic community would grow to sixty-six solemnly professed monks and three novices at the time of his death.
• Incorporated a decidedly missionary approach to monastic life in contrast to other monasteries in the Swiss-American Congregation that chose instead to prioritize internal claustral life and liturgy. This was known in American monastic history of the late 19th century and early 20th centuries as the fight against the German "Beuronese" influences in monasteries founded from Switzerland. Abbot Ignatius chose the "missionary" approach in contrast to other abbots, such as his brother Abbot Frowin Conrad, who favored the Beuronese approach. The result was that Abbot Ignatius would partner with the religious sisters of Saint Scholastica Convent to found parishes, schools, and colleges across Arkansas, Missouri, and Texas.
• Finalized the agreement to bring a railroad by the monastery. The final event for the Subiaco segment of the line was the official inauguration on June 30, 1909, with Abbot Ignatius driving in the last spike of the railroad at Subiaco (see photo). This line was originally known as the Paris–Subiaco Traction Company in 1908, but would finally be closed in 1962.
• Donated 80 acres of land in 1908 to found the new town of Subiaco, Arkansas as a result of the new railroad company building a depot at the location. The new town name reflected the name of Subiaco Abbey.
• Oversaw the Abbey and Academy during a virulent anti-Catholic and anti-German period of time in Arkansas history that began around 1913. This period would see the passage of the Convent Inspection Act (Posey Act) in 1915 which initially allowed Arkansas state investigations of Catholic monasteries and convents. In response, Abbot Ignatius would respond by assigning Father Boniface Spanke to undertake a speaking tour to combat anti-Catholicism, would assign his Prior Fr. Stocker to begin a campaign through the press, and would himself write and invite each Arkansas legislator to visit the abbey. Subiaco would be searched twice during this period until the act was finally repealed in 1937.
• In recognition of his work in the State of Arkansas, he was listed in the Centennial History of Arkansas. In recognition of his work for the Catholic Church in America, Pope Pius XI bestowed on Abbot Ignatius the rare honor of the purple zucchetto for a religious priest. In recognition of his work on an international level as a Benedictine, Abbot Ignatius was listed in the Dictionary of Benedictine Biography Biographia Benedictina.

Gallery

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References

• Arkansas Guardian Archives. "Ignatius Conrad"
• Assenmacher, Hugh. A Place Called Subiaco: A History of the Benedictine Monks in Arkansas (Little Rock: Rose Publishing Company, 1977).
• The Atchison Daily Globe. "A New College for Catholics"
• Barnes, Kenneth. Anti-Catholicism in Arkansas: How Politicians, the Press, the Klan, and Religious Leaders Imagined an Enemy, 1910–1960. (Fayetteville: University of Arkansas Press, 2016).
• Biographia Benedictina. "Ignatius Conrad"
• Biographisches Lexikon des Aargaus 1803 - 1957. (Zürich, Switzerland: Aarau Sauerländer, 1958).
• The Bulletin of the Catholic Laymen's Association of Georgia. "Arkansas Abbot Honored"
• "Cathedral of St. Joseph Parish History".
• The Catholic Church in the United States of America, undertaken to celebrate the golden jubilee of His Holiness, Pope Pius X (New York: The Catholic Editing Company, 1912).
• "Conception Abbey History".
• The Catholic Tribune. "Father Ignatius Talks of the New School at Nevada"
• Duerr, Helen. "The Benedictines in Logan County". (The Arkansas Historical Quarterly, vol. 14, no. 4, 1955, pp. 398–403. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/40027542. Accessed 11 Oct. 2020).
• Einsiedeln Abbey Archives. "P. Ignaz (Nikolaus) Conrad von Au".
• Herndon, Dallas Taybor. Centennial History of Arkansas--Volume 3 (University of Minnesota: S. J. Clark Publishing Company, 1922).
• Hess, Luke. New Subiaco Abbey: A Retrospect (Subiaco: Subiaco Abbey Press, 1917).
• Hill, Samuel. Religion in the Southern States: A Historical Study. (Macon, GA: Mercer University Press, 1983).
• Logan County, Arkansas: Its History and Its People (Paris, AR: Logan County Historical Society, 1987).
• Kodell, Jerome. "Arkansans struggled for religious liberty 99 years ago" (Arkansas Catholic, July 21, 2012).
• Ordo Divini Officii Recitandi Sacrique Peragendi Juxta Ritum Romano-Monasticum in Ecclesiis et Oratoriis Congregaionis Helveto-Americanae Ordinis Sancti Benedicti Pro Anno Domini. (Roma, Tournay: Desclée, 1925).
• Rippinger, Joel. Struggle and Ascent: The History of Mount Angel Abbey. (Collegeville: Liturgical Press, 2020).
• St. Joseph Daily Gazette-Herald. "A Church Controversy"
• St. Joseph Daily Gazette-Herald. "First Abbot"
• Schuette, Shirley Sticht. "Subiaco, (Logan County)" (Butler Center for Arkansas Studies, Encyclopedia of Arkansas, 2017).
• The Scrambler. "The Story of the Subiaco Railroad" (Arkansas-Boston Mountains Chapter: National Railway Historical Society; Vol. 30. No. 12, August 2017).
• Southwest-Times Record. "New Subiaco Abbot Had Unusual Honor"
• Woods, James. "Convent Inspection Act of 1915" (Georgia Southern University, Encyclopedia of Arkansas, 2018).

External links

• Einsiedeln Abbey

Category:1846 births Category:1926 deaths Category:Swiss emigrants to the United States Category:American Benedictines Category:Roman Catholic missionaries in the United States Category:German-American culture in Arkansas

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