ANDREW OF RINN°

ANDREW OF RINN° (Ger. Anderle von Rinn), alleged victim of a ritual murder (see blood libel ) on July 12, 1462. The murder was reputedly committed on the "Judenstein" in the neighborhood of Rinn near Innsbruck, Austria, in the diocese of Bressanone (Brixen). The perpetrators were said to be four Jewish travelers who had purportedly bought the child from his uncle. The cult of Andrew was introduced in Rinn in 1620, following the cult of Simon of Trent. Pope benedict XIV approved his equivalent beatification in 1752 but in 1755 refused to authorize Andrew's canonization and stated that the Roman Church did not formally venerate him. Despite repeated prohibitions by the Catholic Church and the Austrian government, there is an antisemitic cult of Andrew in Rinn up to the present time. -ADD. BIBLIOGRAPHY: W. Kunzenmann (ed.), Judenstein (1994); B. Fresacher, Anderl von Rinn. Ritualmordkult und Neuorientierung in Judenstein 1945–1995 (1998). (Bernhard Blumenkranz / Marcus Pycka (2nd ed.)