LIHZ 2
1786. At the time of Us found&tion, the dioceee in- cluded 20 deaneries with 404 pariBbca.
The new diocese, like the whole of Austria at that time, suffered much from the iiunicroiis, often precipi- tate and reckless, ordinances of the governmeut officials, who interfered in almost all domains of Church hfe and often subjected i>ishop, clerg>', and laity to petty n'giilations. As early iw 17Sj the Vien- nese ecclesiastical order of services whs niailc obliga- tory, "in accordance with which all musical litanies, novenas, octaves, the ancient touchiDK devDtionti, also processions, vespers, and similar ceremonies, were done away with." Numerous churches ami chapels were closed and put to secular uses; the greater part of the old religious foundations and monast^'ries were suppresse<l as early rm 17K1. In all these iniiovutiona the Hi.shop of Linz and hLs chapter aided and sup-
1794. Another permanent service of the bishop was
the founding of a seminary for priests; for this he
bought in 1804 a house out of his own means, and
made the institution lieir to all his property. The
thinl Bishop of Linz, i^i^smund von Holicnwart
<lK09-25), had been a cathedral canon of Gurk and
Vicar-tieneral of KlaRenfurt.. lie was appointed Ijy
the emperor on 10 January, ISOD, liut the appoint-
ment did not receive papal approliution until I>ecenv-
bcr, 1814, on account of the imprisonment of the pope.
The bishop took energetic measures against the ^-wion-
ary followers of PdHchI and Boos, who wer« then
numerous in Upper Austria. His successor was the
Benolictine Gregor Thomas Ziegler (1S27-52), foi^
merly Bishop <^ Tarnov. Although the Church
throughout .\ustria at this date was still dependent
to a very greiit degn^e on the guveniment it " '
ported the government much too willingly,
in secular matters did the bishop ask for tut
of the provincial government at Liiw, he;dso sought
to obtain the approbation of the civil authorities for
the statutes of hischaptiT, as well as for tlte episcopal
and consistorial seals. Nevertheless there cuuld be no
durable peace with the bureaucratic civil authorities,
and HerWrstein was rcimiteilly obligeit to complain
to the emperor of the tutelage in which the Church
was kept, but the conu>laints bore little fruit.
The next bishop, Joseph Anton Gali (1788-1S07), had been of great serx'ice to the Austrian school system as cathedral xcholatiicus and chief supervisor of the nonnal schools. He was sn adherent of Josephinism, and permitted the chancellor of the consistory, Cleorge Rechliereer, a layman and Josephinist, to exercise great influence over the ecclesiastical administration of his diocese. Ecclesiastical conditions lecame more satiiffactflry during his episcopate, but much of the credit for this is due to Emjerors Leopold 11 and Francis II who repeale<l mauy over-hasty reforms of Joseph II. Tlic general scrniiiarics introduced in 1783 were set aside, and tlw- training of the clergj- was again made the care of the l>ishops. Bishop Gall, tneretore, exerted himself for years to establish a Iheologicid institute for liis ilim-ose; it nas opened in
tical mntlem, the bishop knew how t<
strengthen the ecclesiastical spirit in his clergy and
people. Of great importance was the introtluction of
the Jesuits and their settlement on the Freinberg neal
l.iuK, which was accomplished by means of the vigor-
ous and generous aid of Archduke Maximilian of Este,
ami the foundatiim of numerous other religious estab-
lishments (Franciscans, f<alesiuns, Sisters of Mercy
The Revolution of 1S4S not only increased political liberty, but also gave to the Church greater independ- ence in its own province, and the bishop at once made use of the regained freeiloni to revive popular missions, which had been discontinued since the reign of Slaria Thercsa. In 1850 at his histance a ten days' mission was held by the Re<lemptor- ists, at which the numlier of communicants wat reckoned at .W.DOO. In the same year the diocesan theological iii.ititute w!n placed entirely under epis- copal superviiion. ami an exaniiniilion of candidates tor the pnsiiinn of parish priests was established; in Octolior for the first time pxaminntions were held by prosynmlal examiners. The session of the Third (iumi an" Catholic Congre-w, held at. Lini in 1850, also strengtlicrii'd I he Church in Ihe di<)eesp. A great de- vclopiiifiil of n-liuiiMM lift' in tli- diow-*' resulted from
