Karl-August von Reisach was a German Catholic theologian and Cardinal.
Education
On the completion of his secular studies in Neuburg an der Donau, he studied philosophy at Munich (1816), and jurisprudence at Heidelberg, Göttingen, and Landshut, securing (1821) the Degree of Doctor Juris Utriusque. Devoting himself a little later to the study of theology, he received minor orders at Innsbruck in 1824, was ordained in 1828 after philosophical and theological studies in the German College at Rome, and in the following year graduated Doctor of Theology.
Career
Pope Pius VII appointed him rector of studies at the Sacred Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith, an office which brought him into close relations with its prefect, Cardinal-Priest Bartolomeo Cappellari, who later became Pope Gregory XVI.
In 1836 he became Bishop of Eichstätt (Bavaria) and, by the foundation of the boys" seminary (1838) and the erection of the lyceum (1843), rendered the greatest services to the ecclesiastical life of the diocese. As delegate of the pope and the Kings of Prussia and Bavaria, he mediated in the Prussian ecclesiastical dispute, and the rapid settlement of the Cologne muddle (Kölner Wirren - see Clemens August von Droste-Vischering) was due primarily to him. In recognition of his services, he was named Coadjutor in 1841, and Archbishop of Munich-Freising in 1847.
His zeal on behalf of the Church having rendered him unpleasing to the Government, he was, at the request of King Maximilian II of Bavaria, summoned to Rome by Pope Pius IX as Cardinal-Priest, with the title of Saint Anastasia.
He conducted the concordat negotiations with Württemberg and Baden and took a prominent part in the preparations for the council. Reisach was also appointed to the following positions:
1867
President of the Congregation of Ecclesiastico-political Affairs
Camerlengo of the Sacred College of Cardinals
1868
Cardinal-Bishop of Sabina
1869
First legate of the council
Consultor of the Congregation for the Index
Responsible for the publication of the ecclesiastical canons of the Eastern Churches,
Consultor to Congregation for Extraordinary Ecclesiastical Affairs
Consultor to the Examination of Bishops
Minister of for the Papal States.
Membership
Member of the Congregation of the Propaganda and the Congregation of Sacred Rites.