Bernard Francis Meyer, M.M. (June 16, 1891 – May 8, 1975) was an American Catholic missionary. As a member of the Catholic Foreign Mission Society of America (Maryknoll), he was assigned to missions in China. He served as the Prefect Apostolic of Wuzhou from 1934 to 1939.
Reverend Bernard Francis Meyer, M.M. | |
|---|---|
| Prefect Apostolic of Wuzhou | |
| Church | Catholic Church |
| Appointed | December 10, 1934 |
| Term ended | July 20, 1939 |
| Orders | |
| Ordination | February 12, 1916 by Austin Dowling |
| Personal details | |
| Born | June 16, 1891 |
| Died | May 8, 1975 (aged 83) North Tarrytown, New York |
Early life and education
editBorn in Brooklyn, Iowa, Bernard Meyer's family moved to Stuart, Iowa, where he was educated in the local public schools. After working on the family farm he attended St. Ambrose College in Davenport, Iowa, and St. Mary’s Seminary in Baltimore. While he was a student at St. Mary's he wrote to Bishop James Walsh and inquired about Maryknoll.[1] He professed religious vows in 1914 and was ordained a priest on February 12, 1916, by Bishop Austin Dowling of Des Moines.
Priesthood
edit
After ordination Meyer was appointed to the minor seminary faculty at Venard. The following year he was assigned as one of the first Maryknoll missionaries to South China.[1] He was a delegate to Maryknoll's first General Chapter in 1929 after which he returned to Wuzhou (Wuchow). He was named the superior of the mission on October 30, 1931.[2] On December 10, 1934 Pope Pius XI appointed Meyer as the Prefect Apostolic of Wuzhou. He suffered health problems and he resigned his position on July 20, 1939.[3] As World War II broke out, Meyer was living in Hong Kong and he was interned by the Japanese. He was offered repatriation, but instead chose to take care of the medical and spiritual needs of his fellow prisoners. He returned to the United States as a delegate to the Third General Chapter in 1946. Meyer returned to Guangdong (Canton), but was exiled from China by the Communists in 1950.
Bishop Vincent Waters of the Diocese of Raleigh invited Meyer to promote Catholic Action in his diocese. Being located in the Southern United States also provided relief from the acute rheumatism he suffered from.[1]
Later life and death
editMeyer's health declined during the last ten years of his life. He moved into the St. Teresa Residence when it opened in 1968. He died on May 8, 1975, at Phelps Memorial Hospital in North Tarrytown, New York, at the age of 83.[1] Bishop John W. Comber celebrated his funeral on May 12 in the Maryknoll Chapel.
Contribution to Cantonese Learning
editTogether with Theodore F Wempe, he compiled the Student's Cantonese English Dictionary published in 1934. Although some [4] refer to a 'Meyer-Wempe System', there was nothing new in it as their entire schema followed the system devised in the last decade of the 19th century known as Standard Romanization (SR), which, in turn, was almost identical to John Chalmers' system of 1870.[5]
See also
edit
References
edit- ^ a b c d "Fr. Bernard F. Meyer, MM". Maryknoll Mission Archives. Archived from the original on 2014-02-22. Retrieved 2014-02-17.
- ^ "Diocese of Wuzhou 梧州". Giga-Catholic. Retrieved 2014-02-17.
- ^ "Father Bernard Francis Meyer, M.M." Catholic-Hierarchy. Retrieved 2014-02-17.
- ^ English-Cantonese Dictionary, Cantonese in Yale Romanization. Hong Kong: New-Asia-Yale-in-China Chinese Language Center, Chinese University of Hong Kong. 1991. p. 8. ISBN 9627141186.
- ^ Kataoka, Shin; Lee, Cream (2008). "A System without a System: Cantonese Romanization Used in Hong Kong Place and Personal Names". Hong Kong Journal of Applied Linguistics: 82.