On January 12, 2012, Fr. Josef METZLER, Prefect-emeritus of the
Secret Vatican Archives, died in Hünfeld, Germany. He was in his 72nd
year of oblation and his 63rd year of priesthood.
In a website describing a book published in 1994 in his honor, Ecclesiae Memoria, these words describe
the special ministry Fr. Metzler exercised for many years:
“Being a missionary in today’s Church can take on many diverse forms
and activities. One of these is patiently and competently gathering,
classifying, evaluating, making available, and exploiting documents and data
that illustrate the evangelizing fields and zeal of frontline missionaries who
have planted the Lord’s church among the peoples of this world. Father Josef
Metzler, O.M.I., presently prefect of the Vatican Secret Archives, is such a
discreet and specialized missionary…” (www.thefreelibrary.com)
Ecclesiae Memoria, was edited by Fr. Metzler’s Oblate confrere and then librarian at
the Urbaniana University in Rome, Fr. Willi HENKEL.
Fr. Metzler was in charge of the Missionary Archives of the
Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples (Propaganda Fide) from 1966 to
1984. That year, he was appointed Prefect of the Vatican Secret Archives, a
post he held until his retirement in 1996. Over the years, he was co-editor of
the Bibliotheca Missionum and of the Bibliographia
Missionaria and
he wrote many scholarly works on the history of the missions. Noteworthy among his
writings are two volumes on the Synods of local churches in Asia: Die
Synoden in China, Japan und Korea (1570-1931); Die
Synoden in Indochina (1625-1934) and the three volume work Sacrae
Congregationis de Propaganda Fide Memoria Rerum of which
he was editor.
