AERTNYS, JOZEF

Redemptorist moral theologian (known also as Josef Aertnijs); b. Eindhoven, in the Diocese of s'Hertogen-bosch, Holland, Jan. 15, 1828: d. Wittem, Holland, June 30, 1915. After being educated by the Redemptorists, Aertnys made his profession Oct. 15, 1846, and was ordained Sept. 14, 1854. He served as professor of moral theology at Wittem from 1860 to 1898 and was a consultant in theological and canonical problems for the bishops and priests of his native land. Among his writings, the more important were: Caeremoniale solemnium functionum juxta liturgiam Romanam (s'Hertogenbosch 1880; 3d ed. 1921); Compendium liturgiae sacrae (Tournai 1895; 11th ed. 1943); and Theologia moralis juxta doctrinam S. Alphonsi (Tournai 1886–87), a work that went through 17 editions, of which the ninth to 16th were made by A. Damen and the 17th was provided by J. Visser (1956–58), professor at the Urbaniana University in Rome. The 18th edition is being prepared. Aertnys also wrote Theologia pastoralis (Tournai 1892; 6th ed. 1916). He published many articles in scholarly publications and served as one of the original founders of the Nederlandse Katholieke Stemmen, for which he wrote frequently on moral questions of the day.

Bibliography: "In Memoriam," Nederlandse Katholieke Stemmen 15 (1915) 210–11. m. de meulemeester et al., Bibliographie générale des écrivains Rédemptoristes, 3 v. (Louvain 1933–39) 2:9–11; 3:246.

[a. sampers]