Pennings, Bernard Henry
PENNINGS, BERNARD HENRY
Missionary; b. Gemert, Holland, June 9, 1861; d. De Pere, WI, March 17, 1955. He joined Berne Abbey in Heeswijk, Holland, in 1879 and was ordained on June 19, 1886. He volunteered for the American mission undertaken by the abbey in 1893 in response to a request from Bp. Sebastian G. Messmer of Green Bay, WI. Messmer wanted assistance in combating the work of Joseph Rene Vilatte, "Archbishop of the Old Catholic Church in America," who was proselytizing among the Belgian immigrants in northeastern Wisconsin. In September 1898 Pennings became prior of the first permanent foundation of the Premonstratensian Order in North America, established at West De Pere, WI. In 1925 Pius XI raised the De Pere house to the status of an abbey, and Pennings was blessed as abbot on May 27. At the time of his death, his community conducted five high schools and St. Norbert College, West De Pere; operated one television and two radio stations; and served parishes in eight dioceses. Papal honors conferred on Pennings were: the cappa magna and purple pileolus (1934), the purple biretta (1936), and the title of knight commander of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre (1951). In 1951 the Belgian government named him a knight of the Order of the Crown in recognition of his work among Belgian immigrants.
[r. j. cornell]