Background
Theodore was born on April 7, 1703 at Geinsheim in the diocese of Speyer in the Rhenish Palatinate, Germany.
Theodore was born on April 7, 1703 at Geinsheim in the diocese of Speyer in the Rhenish Palatinate, Germany.
Schneider completed his preparatory schooling at Speyer. Among his courses of studies was that of Medicine, which knowledge was to be of great use during his missionary days.
After studies Schneider joined the Society of Jesus (September 25, 1721) and made a brilliant record in philosophy and theology. Hoping to be sent to India as a missionary, he studied medicine.
Fate and his provincial decreed a quite different future and he became professor of philosophy and polemics at the Jesuit College of Liege and later rector of the Jesuit House of Studies at the University of Heidelberg, the philosophy courses of the University then being in the charge of the Jesuits. In 1738 he was elected Rector Magnificus of the University.
In 1740 he was ordered by the General of the Society to go to the Pennsylvania missions, where the English Jesuits were finding difficulty in ministering to the Germans and it was feared they were being lost to the Church. After a brief sojourn in London, where he probably joined the English province, Schneider arrived in Philadelphia in 1741 and was assigned temporarily to St. Joseph's Church before going to Goshenhoppen in Berks County on the Philadelphia-Pottstown Road.
As a former rector of Heidelberg, he was glorified by the Germans, among whom there were some scholarly ministers. In his quest for Catholics and in his efforts to revive their faith, he traveled by horse and afoot to Philadelphia, and aided Robert Harding in the eastern counties of Pennsylvania and in a large portion of New Jersey, saying Mass in small chapels and in private homes.
He kept records and, as an economy and a penance, he copied two complete missals of several hundred pages each (one of which is preserved in the archives of Georgetown University). Broken in health by labors and hardships, Father Schneider was awaiting a recall to Germany to recuperate, when he died after a brief illness.
Schneider was a diligent man. A powerful man, he was fitted for the rough life and arduous travel. He was welcomed on his journeys by the people regardless of creed. His character overcame much prejudice and gained him considerable favor.
Bishop Carroll described Schneider as "a person of great dexterity in business, consummate prudence and undaunted magnanimity".
There is no information about his marital status.