Frederick Katzer

A native of Upper Austria, Katzer was born in Ebensee and raised in Gmunden. He was recruited by Father Francis Xavier Pierz for missionary work in the United States, immigrating to Minnesota in 1864. He soon moved to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where he studied at St. Francis Seminary and was ordained to the priesthood on December 21, 1866 by Bishop John Henni.[1] He joined the seminary faculty and taught mathematics, philosophy, and theology until 1875, when he was transferred to the Diocese of Green Bay and served as rector of the cathedral and vicar general.[2]

On July 13, 1886, Katzer was appointed the third Bishop of Green Bay by Pope Leo XIII.[1] He received his episcopal consecration on the following September 21 from Archbishop Michael Heiss, with Bishops John Vertin and John Ireland serving as co-consecrators.[1]

During his tenure, Katzer became an outspoken opponent of the Bennett Law, which required all public and private schools in Wisconsin to teach in English and was perceived as an attack by German-speaking immigrants. Katzer denounced the law as "a step by which Antichrist is trying to promote its attacks on the Church and accomplish its oppression by the state."[3] In the 1890 election, the bishop strongly endorsed Democratic gubernatorial candidate George Wilbur Peck, who subsequently signed the repeal of the Bennett Law in 1891.[3]

Katzer was appointed the third Archbishop of Milwaukee by Leo XIII on January 30, 1891.[1] His nomination was opposed by some Irish Catholics, who felt a policy of "Germanization" of the archdiocese set in place by his predecessors should not be continued. This is reflected in the architecture of many of the city's early churches, including the historic Old St. Mary's Church and the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist. The Sisters of the Divine Savior also made their home in Milwaukee at the urging of Katzer, during a visit to Pope Leo XIII in 1895.

Katzer died in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin on July 20, 1903 at the age of 59. He is buried in a small cemetery on the grounds of St. Francis Seminary.