Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 13.djvu/374

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SAIDA


328


SAINCTES


established, and in October Father Harquard sent thither six armed "pioneers" who wrote to the car- dinal: "We shall endeavour to hold high the banner of the Sacred Heart and the flag of France." The \Miite Sisters founded hospitals at Ghardaia and El Tbiod Sidi Cheikh, thus gaining the confidence of populations which were hostile to France. The Fou- rean-Laniy expedition of 1S9S, which succeeded in crossing the desert as far as Lake Tchad, opened wider avenues to the Catholic apostolate. The Pre- fecture ApostoUc of the Sahara and the Sudan became a vicariate Apostohc on 6 March, 1891, and in 1901 received new boundaries bj' which the Prefecture Apostohc of Ghardaia was separated from it. The twentieth degree of latitude forms the boundary be- tween them. The vicariate governs 1000 European Catholics, 600 negro Catholics, 4000 catechumens, 40 missionaries, 15 sisters, 35 catechists; it has 12 churches or chapels, 10 schools, 7 orphanages, 3 leper- houses, 2 hospitals. The population of the Sahara is estimated at 4,000,000.

V'fiLLOT, L' exploration du Sahara, etude historique el geo- graphique (Paris. 1895); Bernard axd Lacroix, La penetration saharaienne (Algiers, 1909); BaUnaRD, Le cardinal Lavigerie (Paris, 1896, 1898); Annates de la propagation de la Foi (1909), 333-40; Piolet, La France au dihors, V (Paris, 1902).

Georges Goyau. Saida. See Sidon.

Sailer, Johaxn Michael, professor of theology and Bishop of Ratisbon, b. at Aresing in Upper Bavaria, 17 October, 1751; d. 20 May, 1832, at Ratisbon. Sailer was the son of a poor shoemaker. Until his tenth year he attended the primar3'^ school in his native place; aft«r this he was a pupil in the gymnasium at Munich. In 1770 he entered the Society of Jesus at Landsberg in Upper Bavaria as a novice; upon the suppression of the Society in 1773 he continued his theological and philosophical studies at Ingolstadt. In 1775 he was ordained priest; 1777-80 he was a tutor of philosophy and theology, and from 1780 sec- ond professor of dogmatics at Ingolstadt. Along with many others, he lost his position in 1781 when the Elector Charles Theodore transferred theological in- struction to the monasteries. In the years 1781-84 while engaged in literary work he attracted the at- tention of the elector and Bishop Clement Wence.slaus. In 1794 the latter called Sailer to Dillingen as pro- fessor of pastoral theology and ethics, a position which Sailer held for ten years and which brought him a high reputation. His opponents, professors of Dillingen, and Ro.ssle, the principal of the school at Pfaffen- hausen, succeeded in limiting Sailer's activities in 1793 and in securing his sudden dismissal in 1794. Sailer now went to visit his friend Winkelhofer at Munich, and pursued there by his opponents, went

  • o the hou.se of his friend Beck at Ebersberg. Here he

devoUid himself to literary work until, in 1799, he was called to a profc.s.sorHhip at Ingolstadt. In 1800 he was transferred along with the; university to Land- shut. Here he taught p:istoral and moral theology, Eedagogics, homiletics, liturgy, and catechetics; cele- rated as a tf^acher and a writer he was repeatedly called U) other positions, was on terms of friendship with distinguished Catholics and Protestants, and was universally revered by his pupils, among whom was the Crown Prince Louis, later King of Bavaria. In 1818 Sailer declined the offer of the Prussian Govern- ment to have him appointed Archbishop of Cologne; in 1819 the Bavarian Government, through the in- fluence of the Crown Prince Ix>uis, nominated him as Bishop of Augsburg, but the nomination was re- jected by Rome. In 1821, however, after he had sufficiently justified himself, he was appointed cathe- dral canon of Ratisbon, in 1822 auxiliary bishop and coafljut<jr with right <jf succession, in 1825 cathedral provost, and in 182(^ Bishop of Ratisbon.

The age in which Sailer Uved was dominated by


the "Enhghtenment", which in its radical form disputed the fundamental dogmas of Christianity, and was characterized by externalism, contempt for Christian mysticism, worldliness of the clergy, deg- radation of the pulpit by the treatment of secular topics, relaxation of ecclesia-stical discipline, denial of the primacy of papal jurisdiction, efforts of the State to gain control of the Church, turbulent reforms within the Church, and a one-sided training of the mind in education. In opposition to these de- structive tendencies Sailer came to the defence of faith in Christ and in the fundamental principles of Christianity, striving for an inner, living, practical Christianit}', for a faith that should manifest itself in charity, for the maintenance of godliness (Chris- tian mysticism), and for the training of a pious and intelligent clerg3\ He also insisted that the pulpit should be reserved solely for the preaching of the Gos- pel, and that the bishops should be in union with the pope; he upheld the primacy of the papal juris- diction, and defended the freedom and rights of the Church against the encroachments of the State. Ecclesiastical reform he ardently desired, not, how- ever, through unauthorized agencies but by the appointed organs of the Church; and he demanded that education should aim at training both mind and will. Sailer laboured for the Christian ideal by his winning personahty, by his utterances as teacher, parish priest, and preacher, and bj' his numerous works that were philosophical, theological, devotional, and biographical in character.

Thus Sailer brought back large numbers of people to Christianity and the Church. Notwithstanding his fruitful activity and his benevolence. Sailer had antagonists who opposed him partly from jealousy, partly from misunderstanding and ill-will; he was accused of heterodoxy, indifferentism, and mysticism. If Sailer is judged in connexion with his times, these reproaches are without foundation. In his day Sailer was a pillar of the Church. A perfectly correct judgment of Sailer has been expressed by Goyau in "L'AlIemagne religieuse" (Paris, 1905): "With Sailer German piety, both Protestant and Catholic, learned again to pray. This is the peculiar characteristic of his activity. Do not expect from him any reli- gious polemics; he abhorred them; what he really cherished was the idea of a sort of cooperation of the various Christian bodies against the negations of infidehty. Sailer made a breach in Rationali.sm, by opposing to it a piety in which both Christian bodies could unite" (pp. 294, 295). The best edition of his works is "J. ^I. Sailers stimtliche Werke unter Anleitung fles Verfas.sers ", ed. Joseph Widmer, 40 vols., Sulzbach, 1830-41; supplementary volume, 1845.

Sailer, Selbntbiographie (1819), vol. XIX of colleoted works; VON ScHENK, Die BischOfe Sailer u. Witlmann in Charitas (1838); VON ScHMiD, Erinnerungen au.i meinem Letten (2 vols., Augsburg, 18.53) ; LCtolf, Lehen u. Bekennlnisse des Jos. L. Schiffmann, ein Beilrag zur Charakterintik Sailers u. seiner Schule in der Schweiz (Lucerne, I860); Aichinger, J. M. Sailer (Freising, 1865); JocHAM, Dr. Alois Buchner, ein Lehennhild zur Verstdndigung ilbtr J. M. Sailers Prieslerschule (A\icsl)urg, 1K70); von MOller, Jean Paul u. Sailer als Erziehir drr deutxrhen Nation (Munich, 1908); Kl^TZ, Sailer ah Moral, >hilosoj,h (Paderborn. 1908); Radlmaiek, J. M. Sailer als P/idagog (Berlin, 1909); StOlzle, J. M. Sailer u. seine Bedeutung in Hochland (1910); Idem, J. M. Sailers Sehriften, ausgewahlt u. eingeleitet (Kenipten and Munich, 1910): Idem, J. M. Sailer, seine Massregelung an der Akademie zu Dillinaen u. seine Berufung nach Jngolsladt; ein Beitrag zu (Irlehrte.ngesrh. aus dem ZeitaUer der Aufkldrung (Kempten and Munich, 1910).

R. Stolzle.

Sainctes, Claude de, French controversialist, b. at Perche, 1.525; d. at Crevecrrur, l.)91. At the age of fifteen he joined the Canons Regular of Saint-Ch(ron, and was sent to the College of Navarre in Paris, where he rec«(ived the degnH' of Doctor of Theology (15,55). On account of the erudition of his early works and the aptitude which he showed for controversy, he was


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