The following members of the Society died during the year 1907, much and
deservedly regretted:
Rt. Rev. WILLIAM STANG. D.D.
Bishop of the Roman Catholic diocese of Fall River, Mass., died February
2, at St. Mary’s Hospital, Rochester, Minn. He was born at
Langenbruchen, Baden-Baden, Germany, on April 21, 1854. His early
education was received in the German Gymnasia, but as he had chosen the
career of a missionary, he made his theological studies in the American
College at Louvain, Belgium, and was there ordained to the priesthood,
on June 15, 1878. After a brief service as professor in his Alma Mater,
he came to the United States in 1879, and was accepted by the late
Bishop Hendricken into the diocese of Providence, R. I. He adopted his
new country in wholehearted fashion. In 1884, Father Stang was appointed
rector of St. Anne’s Church, Cranston, R. I. He became rector of the
Providence Cathedral, and held that important charge until 1895, when he
returned to Louvain, to serve his church and country as vice-rector of
the American College for a term of three years. Back to Providence in
1898, he organized and headed the Providence apostolate—a band of
missionary priests organized especially for missions to non-Catholics.
He was also rector of St. Edward’s Church for three years, and then
chancellor, until the division of the diocese of Providence in 1904, and
his appointment to the new diocese of Fall River. Bishop Stang was
consecrated in the Providence Cathedral during the same year, on May 1.
He managed to combine the arduous ordinary work of the priesthood with
the special work of the continuous student and author. Almost from the
first year of his priesthood he was writing for the Catholic magazines
and bringing out books. His published works, the last of which was
brought out since his consecration, are: “The Life of Martin Luther,”
“The Eve of the Reformation,” “More About the Huguenots,” “Germany’s
Debt to Ireland,” “Pastoral Theology,” “Historiographia Ecclesiastica,”
“The Business Guide for Priests,” “Theologia Fundamentalis Moralis,”
“The Devil, Who He Is,” “Spiritual Pepper and Salt,” and “Socialism and
Christianity.” His last magazine article, “Father Denifle and His Great
and Lasting Work,” appeared in the _American Ecclesiastical Review_ for
January, 1907.