Anthony Konings

Who was Anthony Konings?

Anthony Konings was a Redemptorist professor, who wrote works of theology which influenced Catholic life in late nineteenth century America.

After a course in humanities he entered the diocesan seminary. Feeling a call to the monastic life, after mature deliberation he entered in 1842 the Redemptorist novitiate at St. Trond, Belgium, and was permitted to make his religious profession on 6 November 1845. His superiors sent him at once to the house of higher studies to afford him time to prepare for the work of teaching. He was ordained priest in Wittem, on 21 December 1884. After being engaged for some time as teacher of humanities in the preparatory college of the congregation, he was called to fill the chair of moral theology and later that of canon law. Whilst holding these posts, he was appointed prefect of students, a most important office in the congregation.

For some time he was also master of novices, and accompanied the provincial, Very Rev. F. Dechamps, to Rome. Later he visited Rome a second time to take part in the general chapter of 1855, which united all the different provinces and decided upon Rome as the residence of the Superior General of the order. Father Konings was appointed rector of Amsterdam, and in 1860 of the house of studies at Wittem, which post he continued to occupy until 1865, when he was appointed Provincial of Holland. In 1870 he was sent to the province of Baltimore to take up the work of teaching moral theology and canon law to the young clerics of the Redemptorist house of studies at Ilchester, Maryland. As professor of moral theology he soon felt the need of a suitable textbook, less voluminous than the old manuals and one more adapted to the peculiar conditions existing in North America. Father Konings thereupon undertook the task of writing such a handbook, which he subsequently published in two volumes.