Franz Joseph Rudigier was born in the Austrian Empire on 7 April 1811 as the last of eight children to Johann Christian Rudigier and Maria Josepha Tschofen.

In 1823 he was sent to learn Latin under his brother Joseph - who had just been ordained as a priest - and then attended college at Innsbruck before deciding to start his studies to become a priest.
In 1831 he commenced his studies to become a priest in Brixen and was elevated to the diaconate on 5 April 1835.
Rudigier was ordained to the priesthood in Bressanone on 12 April 1835.
The new priest was assigned as a pastor at Vandans and then from 1836 to Bürs until 1838 when he moved to the capital of Vienna for further studies at the Saint Augustine institute; in 1839 he was made a professor of canon law at Brixen when he returned there.
Rudigier also served as a teacher of Emperor Franz Joseph I and his brother Maximilian I. In 1848 he was made the provost of San Candido and in 1850 the canon of Brixen.

Franz Joseph I - on 19 December 1852 - selected Rudigier to become the Bishop of Linz and submitted this recommendation to Pope Pius IX who confirmed the appointment on 10 March 1853; he was enthroned in his new diocese on 12 June 1853 and received his episcopal consecration on 5 June 1853 from the Cardinal Archbishop of Bologna Michele Viale-Prelà.

The papal proclamation of the dogma of the Immaculate Conception in 1854 prompted the bishop to initiate the construction of a new diocesan cathedral in 1855 in honor of this occasion - construction was completed in 1924 after the bishop's death.
He issued a pastoral letter on 7 September 1868 that called the faithful to oppose new marriage laws and he was arrested on 5 July 1869 and then sentenced for two weeks effective the sentencing hearing on 12 July; he was released on 26 July and received an imperial pardon on 27 July.
He liked the notion of prison being a chance to suffer in the name of Jesus Christ.

Rudigier died on 29 November 1884.
His final words were the last verses of the Stabat Mater:
"Christe, cum sit hinc exire, da per matrem me venire ad palmam victoriae.
Quando corpus morietur, fac, ut anisme donetur.
Paradisi gloria".

His breathing ceased and he died without having uttered the Amen.
His remains were interred at the Old Cathedral but in 1924 moved to the new cathedral he had commissioned back in 1855.
Franz Joseph Rudigier was born in the Austrian Empire on 7 April 1811 as the last of eight children to Johann Christian Rudigier and Maria Josepha Tschofen.
In 1823 he was sent to learn Latin under his brother Joseph - who had just been ordained as a priest - and then attended college at Innsbruck before deciding to start his studies to become a priest. In 1831 he commenced his studies to become a priest in Brixen and was elevated to the diaconate on 5 April 1835. Rudigier was ordained to the priesthood in Bressanone on 12 April 1835. The new priest was assigned as a pastor at Vandans and then from 1836 to Bürs until 1838 when he moved to the capital of Vienna for further studies at the Saint Augustine institute; in 1839 he was made a professor of canon law at Brixen when he returned there. Rudigier also served as a teacher of Emperor Franz Joseph I and his brother Maximilian I. In 1848 he was made the provost of San Candido and in 1850 the canon of Brixen.
Franz Joseph I - on 19 December 1852 - selected Rudigier to become the Bishop of Linz and submitted this recommendation to Pope Pius IX who confirmed the appointment on 10 March 1853; he was enthroned in his new diocese on 12 June 1853 and received his episcopal consecration on 5 June 1853 from the Cardinal Archbishop of Bologna Michele Viale-Prelà.
The papal proclamation of the dogma of the Immaculate Conception in 1854 prompted the bishop to initiate the construction of a new diocesan cathedral in 1855 in honor of this occasion - construction was completed in 1924 after the bishop's death. He issued a pastoral letter on 7 September 1868 that called the faithful to oppose new marriage laws and he was arrested on 5 July 1869 and then sentenced for two weeks effective the sentencing hearing on 12 July; he was released on 26 July and received an imperial pardon on 27 July. He liked the notion of prison being a chance to suffer in the name of Jesus Christ.
Rudigier died on 29 November 1884. His final words were the last verses of the Stabat Mater:
"Christe, cum sit hinc exire, da per matrem me venire ad palmam victoriae. Quando corpus morietur, fac, ut anisme donetur. Paradisi gloria".
His breathing ceased and he died without having uttered the Amen. His remains were interred at the Old Cathedral but in 1924 moved to the new cathedral he had commissioned back in 1855.
Franz-Josef Rudigier