Waal, Anton Maria de

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WAAL, ANTON MARIA DE

Noted German prelate and archeologist; b. Emmerich, May 5, 1836; d. Rome, Feb. 23, 1917. After ordination at Münster on Oct. 11, 1862, he was first a teacher in the seminary of Gaesdonck, was sent to Rome in 1868 for a doctorate in theology (1869), and finally became rector of the Teutonic College of Santa Maria in Campo-santo (1873), which he reorganized as a hospice for priests engaged in scholarly study. He provided it with statutes approved by Pope Pius IX on Nov. 21, 1876. He played a part in the spiritual life of Germans in Rome and other parts of Italy and founded a refuge for youth, Marienheim (1887); an association for assistance to women, Liebfrauenverein (1874); and a pension for the aged and infirm, Antoniusheim (1912). To his archeological interests are due the explorations under the basilica of St. Sebastian on the Via Appia in 1892 and 1893. These were continued in 1915 with the aid of P. Styger and O. Fasiolo and resulted in the discovery there of the famous third–century Triclia, or Memoria Apostolorum, which had originally served as a place for Eucharistic or other worship. He founded a library for archeological research and started the periodicals Römische Quartatschrift (1887) and Oriens Christianus (1901), which were devoted to the study of Christian antiquity. He published many monographs, including Die Nationalstiftungen des deutschen Volkes in Rom (Frankfurt 1880); Die Apostelgruft ad catacumbas (Freiburg 1894); Roma Sacra (Munich 1926); 12 editions of Die Walfahrt zu den Sieben Hauptkirchen zu Rom (Freiburg 1870–1925); and biographies of contemporary pontiffs, including Leo XII (Münster 1878), Papst Pius X Lebensbild (Munich 1903), and Benedict XV (1915). He is buried in the cemetery of the Teutonic College in Camposanto.