Josip Lang

Venerable Josip Lang
titular bishop of Alabanda auxiliary bishop of Zagreb
Born	25 January 1857 Lepšić
Residence	Kaptol, Zagreb
Died	1 November 1924 Zagreb
Cause of death	heart attack
Venerated in	Archdiocese of Zagreb

Venerable Josip Lang (25 January 1857 – 1 November 1924) was a Croatian Catholic prelate, titular bishop of Alabanda and auxiliary bishop of Zagreb (both since 1915). He is widely known for his charitable work, which earned him the title "friend of the poor". By a decree of Pope Francis issued on 25 November 2024, he is considered as Venerable.

Biography

Early life and education

Lang was born in 1857 in Lepšić near Ivanić-Grad in a devout Catholic family of father Dragutin Cof, miller and mother Maria Cof, baker. Josip was devout from an early age. He actively participated in his parish life, often withdrewing to pray in silence. With the death of his father at the age of 38, the family experienced financial difficulties. His mother asked Cardinal Mihalović to accept Josip into the archdiocesan orphanage, where his prayer intensified and his priestly vocation matured. From 1875 to 1877, he attended the seminary, where he distinguished himself with his ascetic life. The cardinal decided to send him to Rome to continue his theological studies. He stayed at the Germanicum, and studied philosophy and theology 1877-1883 at the Gregoriana, earning doctorate in philosophy in 1880.

Pre-episcopal service

Upon his return to Zagreb, he was ordained a priest on 16 September 1883. He served as a chaplain in Zlatar (1883-84), spiritual leader (duhovnik) and confessor at the Sisters of Charity Hospital (1884), schoolteacher of pedagogy and Italian at the Women's Teachers' School of the Sisters of Charity (1885–1900), spiritual leader (1900-08) and rector (1908-12) of the theological seminary in Zagreb and parson of the cathedral parish of St. Mary's at Dolac (1912-14). In 1898, he fell ill with pneumonia and pleurisy. He was the president-rapporteur of the Zagreb Curia, and also worked in the marriage court. When the Hungarian authorities resigned and retired some professors at the University of Zagreb, a rebellion broke out among the students, which also included seminarians, as the Faculty of Theology was part of the University. Due to the participation of the seminarians in the rebellion without the knowledge of their superiors, the senior priests of the seminary demanded Lang's resignation, which he accepted and left the seminary. He was appointed in 1898 as a member of the Archdiocese's Spiritual Committee (Nadbiskupski duhovni stol), in 1908 as a canon of the Zagreb Cathedral, in 1911 as an archdeacon of Varaždin, and in 1912 as an apostolic protonotary.

Episcopate

In 1914, Lang was appointed as a procurator general to archbishop Antun Bauer, who then asked emperor Franz Joseph and the Holy See to appoint Lang for his auxiliary bishop. Bauer consercrated him as auxiliary bishop of Zagreb on 26 February 1915. Soon after, on 18 April 1915 he was ordained as titular bishop of Alabanda.

Sources

Literature

• Barić, Joško (2013). "LANG, Josip". Croatian Biographical Lexicon (in Croatian). Zagreb: Miroslav Krleža Institute of Lexicography.
• Antun Cvek; Maja Cvitanović, eds. (2005). Biskup Josip Lang - prijatelj siromaha: zbornik sa Simpozija održanoga 6. studenoga 2004. u Zagrebu, prigodom 80. godišnjice smrti biskupa Josipa Langa [Bishop Josip Lang - Friend of the Poor: Proceedings of the Symposium held on November 6, 2004 in Zagreb, on the occasion of the 80th anniversary of the death of Bishop Josip Lang]. Zagreb: Zaklada biskup Josip Lang. ISBN 953998324X.
• "Lang, Josip (1857-1924), Bischof". Österreichisches Biographisches Lexikon 1815-1950 (in German). Vol. 4. Austrian Centre for Digital Humanities and Cultural Heritage. 1969. p. 442. doi:10.1553/0x00282c27.}}

Web

• "Životopis Časnog sluge Božjeg Josipa Langa (1857. - 1924.)" [Biography of the Venerable Josip Lang (1857-1924)] (in Croatian). Archdiocese of Zagreb. 26 November 2024.
• "Bishop Josip Lang †". Catholic-Hierarchy.org.