De Waal was born in
Emmerich am Rhein, then in the
Province of Jülich-Cleves-Berg in the
Kingdom of Prussia, on 5 May 1837, As a young man, he studied theology at the
seminary in
Münster. He was ordained to the priesthood on 11 October 1862 by
Bishop Johann Georg Müller of the Diocese of Münster. He then taught at the
Collegium Augustinianum Gaesdonck, a
boarding school close to the city of
Goch. On 19 July 1868, De Waal became chaplain of the German
National church of
Santa Maria dell'Anima in Rome. He received his
Doctorate in Theology on 19 February 1869. During the
siege and conquest of Rome by army of the
Kingdom of Italy in 1870, he volunteered as chaplain of the Papal troops. He became Vice-Rector in 1872 and then
Rector in 1873 of the
Collegio Teutonico in the Vatican. In 1875, he was appointed secret chamberlain of
Pope Pius IX. On 23 June 1896 Anton de Waal became
prelate to the Pontifical House and on 30 July 1900
Protonotary apostolic. He was appointed on 2 November 1904 Commissioner of the pastoral care of all Germans in Italy. de Waall was the recipient of the Pontifical Order of Merit "
Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice" in gold and several
chivalric orders:
Order of the Crown (Prussia) 2d class,
Order of the Red Eagle (Prussia) 2d class,
Bavarian Order of Merit of St. Michael 2d class, Commander's Cross Class I of the
Albert Order of
Saxony and Commander's Cross and Commander's star of the
Imperial Austrian Franz Joseph Order. He died in Rome on 23 February 1917 and was buried in the
Teutonic Cemetery, reserved to German nationals serving the Catholic Church in Rome, located next to the
Church of Santa Maria della Pietà in Camposanto dei Teutonici. == Work ==