Jessing, John Joseph b. November 17, 1836; Munster, Westphalia (Prussia) d. November 2, 1899; Columbus, Ohio
German American Catholic priest who founded the influential German-language newspaper the Ohio Waisenfreund (Ohio Orphan’s Friend) and the Pontifical College Josephinum in Columbus, Ohio.
Jessing immigrated to the United States in 1867 because of his growing disillusionment with the German Wars of Unification (1864—1871). He had served in the Seventh Westphalian Artillery of the Prussian Army during the Danish War (1864) and the Seven Weeks’ War (1866). He was disheartened by the war between Prussia and Austria; he believed it to be fratricidal and anathema to his Catholic faith. Later he claimed that he had foreseen the clash between France and Prussia (Franco-Prussian War, 1870—1871) and did not want to partake in another war against a Catholic country. Jessing immigrated to the United States, and entered Mount St. Mary’s Seminary in Cincinnati, Ohio. After being ordained to the priesthood in 1870, he was stationed in a parish in Pomeroy, Ohio. Two and a half years later, he started a newspaper named the Ohio. Shortly thereafter he opened St. Joseph’s Orphanage. He continued to work on the newspaper, which in 1874 he renamed the Ohio Waisenfreund. It quickly became a significant voice in the German American Catholic press of Ohio. During the mid- 1870s, Jessing sparred with the larger Cincinnati German Catholic newspaper Wahrheitsfreund (Friend of Truth) over the issue of founding a Catholic university. In 1877 he moved permanently to Columbus, Ohio, and during the next decade he expanded the function of his orphanage to that of a German preparatory seminary in philosophical and theological studies. In 1892 he transferred the college to the Holy See, and later that year Pope Leo XIII granted the college pontifical status. The Pontifical College Josephinum became a leading educational center for German American Catholic priests during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Instruction was provided in both English and German.The Ohio Waisenfreund continued to serve as a strong voice for German American Catholicism; however, due to the pressures of World War I, that voice switched from German to English in print. The Pontifical College Josephinum (located in Columbus, Ohio) continues to train students for the priesthood and holds the distinction of being the only pontifical college in the Western Hemisphere.
Kevin Ostoyich
See also Newspaper Press, German Language in the United States
References and Further Reading
Baumgarten, Paul Maria. “Pontifical Colleges.” The Catholic Encyclopedia XII, 1911.
Miller, Leo F., Joseph C. Plumpe, Maurice A. Hofer, and George J. Undreiner. Monsignor Joseph Jessing (1836—1899): Founder of the Pontifical College Josephinum. Columbus, OH: Carroll, 1936.