German Catholics
Encyclopedia
The German Catholics were a schismatic
sect
formed in December 1844 by German
dissidents from the Roman Catholic Church
, under the leadership of Johannes Ronge.
, published a vigorous attack upon Wilhelm Arnoldi, bishop of Trier since 1842, in the 15 October 1844 issue of the Sächsische Vaterlandsblätter for having ordered (for the first time since 1810) the exposition of the alleged seamless robe of Jesus
, an event that drew countless pilgrim
s to the cathedral. The Bishop had proclaimed that the artifact had healing powers.
Ronge, who had formerly been chaplain at Grottkau
, was then a schoolmaster at Laurahütte
near the Polish border. The article made a great sensation, and led to Ronge’s excommunication
by the chapter of Breslau in December 1844. The ex-priest received much public sympathy, and a dissenting congregation calling itself the "New Catholics" was soon formed at Breslau. Within less than a year, the group grew to over 8,000 members.
The Bible was made the sole rule, barring all external authority. Within a few weeks similar communities were formed at Leipzig
, Dresden
, Berlin
, Offenbach am Main, Worms
, Wiesbaden
and several other locations; and at a council convened at Leipzig at Easter 1845, 27 congregations were represented by delegates, of whom only two or at most three were in clerical orders.
Ronge organized the "New Catholics" as principally a democratic organization. He ended the rule of celibacy
for priest
s, excommunication
, oral confession
s, indulgence
s, canonization and invocation of saint
s, use of the Latin language in divine service, prohibition of mixed marriages, the supremacy of the pope and other practices of the Roman Catholic Church. He married Bertha Mayer
, sister of Carl Schurz
's wife, Margarethe
. Many churches followed his example and the "New Catholics" grew rapidly. Ronge had also garnered support from Robert Blum
, a newspaper publisher in Saxony
. Blum published writings of the new movement and helped to organize it.
Many of the "New Catholics" were involved in politics. Their membership dominated the parliament in Worms
. With their view of "rational religion", the council proclaimed "that the sole basis of Christian faith was to be in the Bible, interpreted "by each for himself in the light of reason". They were later forced to change their name from "New Catholics" to "German Catholics". A Protestant group analogous to the New Catholics was the Friends of the Light
. In 1849, these two groups combined to form the Free Congregations.
Of the German Catholic congregations that had been represented at Leipzig some manifested a preference for the fuller creed of the Christian Catholic sect based in Schneidemühl, but a great majority continued to accept the comparatively rationalistic position of the Breslau school. The number of these rapidly increased, and the congregations scattered over Germany numbered nearly two hundred. External and internal checks, however, soon limited this advance. In Austria
, and ultimately also in Bavaria
, the use of the name "German Catholic" was officially prohibited, with that of "Dissidents" being substituted, while in Prussia
, Baden
and Saxony
the adherents of the new creed were put under various disabilities, being suspected of both undermining religion and encouraging the revolutionary tendencies of the age. Ronge himself was a foremost figure in the troubles of 1848; after the dissolution of the Frankfurt Parliament
he lived for some time in London
, returning in 1861 to Germany
. He died in Vienna
on 26 October 1887.
As of 1911, there were only about two thousand strict German Catholics, all in Saxony
. The movement was superseded by the Old Catholic Church
.
of the clergy. The result had been his suspension from office in March 1844; his public withdrawal, along with twenty-four adherents, from the Roman communion in August; his excommunication; and the formation, in October, of a "Christian Catholic" congregation which, while rejecting clerical celibacy, the use of Latin in public worship, and the doctrines of purgatory
and transubstantiation
, retained the Nicene theology and the doctrine of the seven sacraments. Czerski had been at some of the sittings of the German Catholic council of Leipzig; but when a formula somewhat similar to that of Breslau had been adopted, he refused his signature because the divinity of Christ had been ignored, and he and his congregation continued to retain by preference the name of "Christian Catholics", which they had originally assumed.
In 1859 some of the German Catholics entered into corporate union with the Free Congregations, an association of free-thinking communities that had since 1844 been gradually withdrawing from the orthodox Protestant Church, when the united body took the title of The Religious Society of Free Congregations. Before that time many of the congregations which were formed in 1844 and the years immediately following had been dissolved, including that of Schneidemuhl itself, which ceased to exist in 1857.
Schism (religion)
A schism , from Greek σχίσμα, skhísma , is a division between people, usually belonging to an organization or movement religious denomination. The word is most frequently applied to a break of communion between two sections of Christianity that were previously a single body, or to a division within...
sect
Sect
A sect is a group with distinctive religious, political or philosophical beliefs. Although in past it was mostly used to refer to religious groups, it has since expanded and in modern culture can refer to any organization that breaks away from a larger one to follow a different set of rules and...
formed in December 1844 by German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
dissidents from the Roman Catholic Church
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
, under the leadership of Johannes Ronge.
History
Johannes Ronge, a Roman Catholic priest in SilesiaSilesia
Silesia is a historical region of Central Europe located mostly in Poland, with smaller parts also in the Czech Republic, and Germany.Silesia is rich in mineral and natural resources, and includes several important industrial areas. Silesia's largest city and historical capital is Wrocław...
, published a vigorous attack upon Wilhelm Arnoldi, bishop of Trier since 1842, in the 15 October 1844 issue of the Sächsische Vaterlandsblätter for having ordered (for the first time since 1810) the exposition of the alleged seamless robe of Jesus
Seamless robe of Jesus
The Seamless Robe of Jesus is the robe said to have been worn by Jesus during his crucifixion...
, an event that drew countless pilgrim
Pilgrim
A pilgrim is a traveler who is on a journey to a holy place. Typically, this is a physical journeying to some place of special significance to the adherent of a particular religious belief system...
s to the cathedral. The Bishop had proclaimed that the artifact had healing powers.
Ronge, who had formerly been chaplain at Grottkau
Grodków
Grodków is a town in Opole Voivodeship in Poland. It has 8,709 inhabitants and lies 20 km south of Brzeg.Grodków was granted city rights in 1268 by Duke Henryk IV Probus. The medieval city plan was characterized by a rectangular marketplace and four streets leading to the towers of the city...
, was then a schoolmaster at Laurahütte
Siemianowice Slaskie
Siemianowice Śląskie aka Siemianowice ; is a city in Upper Silesia in southern Poland, near Katowice. The central district of the Upper Silesian Metropolitan Union - metropolis with the population of 2 millions...
near the Polish border. The article made a great sensation, and led to Ronge’s excommunication
Excommunication
Excommunication is a religious censure used to deprive, suspend or limit membership in a religious community. The word means putting [someone] out of communion. In some religions, excommunication includes spiritual condemnation of the member or group...
by the chapter of Breslau in December 1844. The ex-priest received much public sympathy, and a dissenting congregation calling itself the "New Catholics" was soon formed at Breslau. Within less than a year, the group grew to over 8,000 members.
The Bible was made the sole rule, barring all external authority. Within a few weeks similar communities were formed at Leipzig
Leipzig
Leipzig Leipzig has always been a trade city, situated during the time of the Holy Roman Empire at the intersection of the Via Regia and Via Imperii, two important trade routes. At one time, Leipzig was one of the major European centres of learning and culture in fields such as music and publishing...
, Dresden
Dresden
Dresden is the capital city of the Free State of Saxony in Germany. It is situated in a valley on the River Elbe, near the Czech border. The Dresden conurbation is part of the Saxon Triangle metropolitan area....
, Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
, Offenbach am Main, Worms
Worms, Germany
Worms is a city in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, on the Rhine River. At the end of 2004, it had 85,829 inhabitants.Established by the Celts, who called it Borbetomagus, Worms today remains embattled with the cities Trier and Cologne over the title of "Oldest City in Germany." Worms is the only...
, Wiesbaden
Wiesbaden
Wiesbaden is a city in southwest Germany and the capital of the federal state of Hesse. It has about 275,400 inhabitants, plus approximately 10,000 United States citizens...
and several other locations; and at a council convened at Leipzig at Easter 1845, 27 congregations were represented by delegates, of whom only two or at most three were in clerical orders.
Ronge organized the "New Catholics" as principally a democratic organization. He ended the rule of celibacy
Celibacy
Celibacy is a personal commitment to avoiding sexual relations, in particular a vow from marriage. Typically celibacy involves avoiding all romantic relationships of any kind. An individual may choose celibacy for religious reasons, such as is the case for priests in some religions, for reasons of...
for priest
Priest
A priest is a person authorized to perform the sacred rites of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particular, rites of sacrifice to, and propitiation of, a deity or deities...
s, excommunication
Excommunication
Excommunication is a religious censure used to deprive, suspend or limit membership in a religious community. The word means putting [someone] out of communion. In some religions, excommunication includes spiritual condemnation of the member or group...
, oral confession
Confession
This article is for the religious practice of confessing one's sins.Confession is the acknowledgment of sin or wrongs...
s, indulgence
Indulgence
In Catholic theology, an indulgence is the full or partial remission of temporal punishment due for sins which have already been forgiven. The indulgence is granted by the Catholic Church after the sinner has confessed and received absolution...
s, canonization and invocation of saint
Saint
A saint is a holy person. In various religions, saints are people who are believed to have exceptional holiness.In Christian usage, "saint" refers to any believer who is "in Christ", and in whom Christ dwells, whether in heaven or in earth...
s, use of the Latin language in divine service, prohibition of mixed marriages, the supremacy of the pope and other practices of the Roman Catholic Church. He married Bertha Mayer
Bertha Ronge
Bertha Ronge was an activist in the causes of childhood education, women's education and religious freedom. She established the kindergarten movement in England, where she founded the first three kindergartens in London , Manchester and Leeds...
, sister of Carl Schurz
Carl Schurz
Carl Christian Schurz was a German revolutionary, American statesman and reformer, and Union Army General in the American Civil War. He was also an accomplished journalist, newspaper editor and orator, who in 1869 became the first German-born American elected to the United States Senate.His wife,...
's wife, Margarethe
Margarethe Schurz
Margarethe Meyer-Schurz Margarethe Meyer-Schurz Margarethe Meyer-Schurz (born Margarethe Meyer; also called Margaretha Meyer-Schurz or just Margarethe Schurz; born 27 August 1833 in Hamburg; died 15 March 1876 opened the first German-language Kindergarten in the USA.- Life :...
. Many churches followed his example and the "New Catholics" grew rapidly. Ronge had also garnered support from Robert Blum
Robert Blum
thumb|Painting by August Hunger of Robert Blum between 1845 and 1848Robert Blum was a German democratic politician, publicist, poet, publisher, revolutionist and member of the National Assembly of 1848. In his fight for a strong, unified Germany he opposed ethnocentrism and it was his strong...
, a newspaper publisher in Saxony
Saxony
The Free State of Saxony is a landlocked state of Germany, contingent with Brandenburg, Saxony Anhalt, Thuringia, Bavaria, the Czech Republic and Poland. It is the tenth-largest German state in area, with of Germany's sixteen states....
. Blum published writings of the new movement and helped to organize it.
Many of the "New Catholics" were involved in politics. Their membership dominated the parliament in Worms
Worms, Germany
Worms is a city in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, on the Rhine River. At the end of 2004, it had 85,829 inhabitants.Established by the Celts, who called it Borbetomagus, Worms today remains embattled with the cities Trier and Cologne over the title of "Oldest City in Germany." Worms is the only...
. With their view of "rational religion", the council proclaimed "that the sole basis of Christian faith was to be in the Bible, interpreted "by each for himself in the light of reason". They were later forced to change their name from "New Catholics" to "German Catholics". A Protestant group analogous to the New Catholics was the Friends of the Light
Friends of the Light
-Origins:It originated in the Province of Saxony, in 1841. The members were also called Protestant Friends. The immediate occasion was an attempt to discipline a Magdeburg preacher who had expressed heretical views. Early leaders in the movement were Leberecht Uhlich and Gustav Adolf Wislicenus,...
. In 1849, these two groups combined to form the Free Congregations.
Of the German Catholic congregations that had been represented at Leipzig some manifested a preference for the fuller creed of the Christian Catholic sect based in Schneidemühl, but a great majority continued to accept the comparatively rationalistic position of the Breslau school. The number of these rapidly increased, and the congregations scattered over Germany numbered nearly two hundred. External and internal checks, however, soon limited this advance. In Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
, and ultimately also in Bavaria
Bavaria
Bavaria, formally the Free State of Bavaria is a state of Germany, located in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the largest state by area, forming almost 20% of the total land area of Germany...
, the use of the name "German Catholic" was officially prohibited, with that of "Dissidents" being substituted, while in Prussia
Prussia
Prussia was a German kingdom and historic state originating out of the Duchy of Prussia and the Margraviate of Brandenburg. For centuries, the House of Hohenzollern ruled Prussia, successfully expanding its size by way of an unusually well-organized and effective army. Prussia shaped the history...
, Baden
Baden
Baden is a historical state on the east bank of the Rhine in the southwest of Germany, now the western part of the Baden-Württemberg of Germany....
and Saxony
Saxony
The Free State of Saxony is a landlocked state of Germany, contingent with Brandenburg, Saxony Anhalt, Thuringia, Bavaria, the Czech Republic and Poland. It is the tenth-largest German state in area, with of Germany's sixteen states....
the adherents of the new creed were put under various disabilities, being suspected of both undermining religion and encouraging the revolutionary tendencies of the age. Ronge himself was a foremost figure in the troubles of 1848; after the dissolution of the Frankfurt Parliament
Frankfurt Parliament
The Frankfurt Assembly was the first freely elected parliament for all of Germany. Session was held from May 18, 1848 to May 31, 1849 in the Paulskirche at Frankfurt am Main...
he lived for some time in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, returning in 1861 to Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
. He died in Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
on 26 October 1887.
As of 1911, there were only about two thousand strict German Catholics, all in Saxony
Saxony
The Free State of Saxony is a landlocked state of Germany, contingent with Brandenburg, Saxony Anhalt, Thuringia, Bavaria, the Czech Republic and Poland. It is the tenth-largest German state in area, with of Germany's sixteen states....
. The movement was superseded by the Old Catholic Church
Old Catholic Church
The term Old Catholic Church is commonly used to describe a number of Ultrajectine Christian churches that originated with groups that split from the Roman Catholic Church over certain doctrines, most importantly that of Papal Infallibility...
.
Beliefs
German Catholics adhered to a very simple creed, in which the chief beliefs were:- God the Father, creator and ruler of the universe.
- Jesus Christ the Saviour, who delivers from the bondage of sin by his life, doctrine and death.
- The operation of the Holy Ghost.
- A holy, universal, Christian church.
- Forgiveness of sins and the life everlasting.
Related movements
Even before the beginning of the agitation led by Ronge, another movement fundamentally distinct, though in some respects similar, had been originated at Schneidemuhl, Posen, under the guidance of Johannes Czerski, also a priest, who had come into collision with the church authorities on the then much discussed question of mixed marriages, and also on that of the celibacyCelibacy
Celibacy is a personal commitment to avoiding sexual relations, in particular a vow from marriage. Typically celibacy involves avoiding all romantic relationships of any kind. An individual may choose celibacy for religious reasons, such as is the case for priests in some religions, for reasons of...
of the clergy. The result had been his suspension from office in March 1844; his public withdrawal, along with twenty-four adherents, from the Roman communion in August; his excommunication; and the formation, in October, of a "Christian Catholic" congregation which, while rejecting clerical celibacy, the use of Latin in public worship, and the doctrines of purgatory
Purgatory
Purgatory is the condition or process of purification or temporary punishment in which, it is believed, the souls of those who die in a state of grace are made ready for Heaven...
and transubstantiation
Transubstantiation
In Roman Catholic theology, transubstantiation means the change, in the Eucharist, of the substance of wheat bread and grape wine into the substance of the Body and Blood, respectively, of Jesus, while all that is accessible to the senses remains as before.The Eastern Orthodox...
, retained the Nicene theology and the doctrine of the seven sacraments. Czerski had been at some of the sittings of the German Catholic council of Leipzig; but when a formula somewhat similar to that of Breslau had been adopted, he refused his signature because the divinity of Christ had been ignored, and he and his congregation continued to retain by preference the name of "Christian Catholics", which they had originally assumed.
In 1859 some of the German Catholics entered into corporate union with the Free Congregations, an association of free-thinking communities that had since 1844 been gradually withdrawing from the orthodox Protestant Church, when the united body took the title of The Religious Society of Free Congregations. Before that time many of the congregations which were formed in 1844 and the years immediately following had been dissolved, including that of Schneidemuhl itself, which ceased to exist in 1857.