400th anniversary of death - Austria / II. Republic of Austria 1997 - 7.50 Shilling

On the occasion of the 400th anniversary of the death of the important church teacher, Post & Telekom Austria edits a special postage stamp, whose motif was chosen as the "Canisius Altar" in the Canisianum Theological Convent in Innsbruck. Peter Kanis (Latin Petrus Canisius) was born on May 8, 1521 in Nijmegen in the Netherlands. At that time the city had a German character and had its seat and vote in the German Fürstenrat. Canisius decided to work in the priesthood and was ordained a priest in Cologne. He became a professor at the University of Ingolstadt and in 1550 rector. His further life took him to Vienna, Innsbruck and many other important European cities as a teacher. In Innsbruck he gave the Jesuit College a special rank. Canisius spent his retirement in Switzerland, where he founded his last Jesuit college. On December 21, 1597 Canisius died at the age of 77. Peter Canisius was beatified in 1864 and canonized in 1925 and appointed a teacher of the church. Since he spared no effort to restore ecclesial unity, he is called "the second apostle of Germany after Boniface" (Pope Leo XIII). When the diocese of Innsbruck was built in 1964, he was elected a diocesan patron.