[1] According to his own report, the idea of an international language arose out of a conversation he had with one of his parishioners, a semi-literate German peasant whose son had emigrated to America and could no longer be reached by mail because the United States Postal Service could not read the father's handwriting.

At the end of this time he was jailed for four months for preaching against socialism during the Kulturkampf.

[citation needed] At this time he was editor of the magazine Sionsharfe, devoted mainly to Catholic poetry.

After 1885 Schleyer had to retire from his pastoral duties due to ill health, though he was still involved in the Volapük movement until it fell apart a few years later.

[3] A campaign to beatify him was started in June 2001, based in his home parish of Litzelstetten.