German Catholics

German Catholics, a religious body in Germany, which seceded from the Roman Catholic Church in 1844. The movement was due to a Silesian priest named Ronge, who wrote a letter to Bishop Arnoldi, protesting against the exhibition of the Holy Coat at Treves. This letter excited so much sympathy both among Catholics and Protestants that Ronge was encouraged to make a bold attack on papal supremacy and ecclesiastical domination. He aimed at instituting a national church, and denounced auricular confession, the celibacy of priests, and all interference with the right of private judgment. The German Catholic Church was founded in January, 1845, when Ronge was chosen head pastor. Not long before, the "Christian Apostolic Catholic Church," which professed somewhat similar views, had been founded by J. Czerski, a priest at Schneidemiihl, in Posen. At Easter, 1845, a conference of both bodies was held, at which an agreement was come to on points of faith, and it was determined to form a joint organisation. The Bible and the Nicene Creed were alone recognised as standards of belief, and the doctrines of purgatory, transubstantiation, and the seven sacraments were rejected. The movement was at first so successful that it seemed possible it might lead to the re-establishment of a reformed national church in Germany; but its Rationalistic tendencies speedily aroused the suspicions of Protestants as well as the orthodox Catholics; and the Government, fearing it might prove a revolutionary force, took measures to suppress it. Members of the body were subjected to harassing restrictions in Saxony and Prussia, and were actually expelled from Baden and Austria. Its progress was also checked through internal dissensions. Religious fervour gave place to political enthusiasm, and many leaders of the party, including Ronge himself, took a prominent part in the revolutionary movement of 1848. The Conservative reaction which followed was fatal to the hopes of the German Catholics. Ronge was compelled in 1850 to withdraw to London, and did not return to Germany till 1861. By 1858 the congregations had been reduced to one-half their former number, and the movement may now be regarded as extinct, the surviving members having, for the most part, joined some avowedly Rationalistic sect. The Old Catholics (q.v.) are a somewhat similar body of distinct origin.