Huonder, Anton
HUONDER, ANTON
Jesuit missiologist and ascetical writer, whose works were mainly concerned with the history, development, and peculiar problems of the various missionary fields;b. Chur, Switzerland, Dec. 25, 1858; d. Bonn, Germany, Aug. 23, 1926. He entered the Society of Jesus on Sept. 30, 1875, made his theological studies in Holland and England, and was ordained in 1889. He became a renowned preacher of the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius, specializing in retreats to priests. He waged a constant battle against Europeanism in the missions, and was a contributor to and the vigorous director of the periodical Die Katholischen Missionen. He exercised a great and efficacious influence in his many writings on the development of the native clergy and the growth of missionary societies at home. His principal works began to be published in 1899 and extend through 1932. A three–volume work, Die Mission auf der Kanzel und im Verein, was published at Freiburg im Breisgau between 1912 and 1914. As an ascetical writer, he is best known for his series of meditations, Zu Fuessen des Meisters, in four volumes, and for his character study of St. Ignatius Loyola, published posthumously in 1932.
Bibliography: j. a. otto, Lexikon für Theologie und Kirche, ed. j. hofer and k. rahner, 10 v. (2d, new ed. Freiburg 1957–65) 5:542.
[j. flynn]