Piusverein
Encyclopedia
The Piusverein was a Roman Catholic society, founded in 1848 in 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...

, and named for Pope Pius IX
Pope Pius IX
Blessed Pope Pius IX , born Giovanni Maria Mastai-Ferretti, was the longest-reigning elected Pope in the history of the Catholic Church, serving from 16 June 1846 until his death, a period of nearly 32 years. During his pontificate, he convened the First Vatican Council in 1869, which decreed papal...

. Its political direction was conservative and ultramontanist, and its purpose to form a bridge between Catholics and the political classes. Other societies under this name were subsequently set up, in German-speaking countries.

The Piusverein in Germany

It was founded at Mainz
Mainz
Mainz under the Holy Roman Empire, and previously was a Roman fort city which commanded the west bank of the Rhine and formed part of the northernmost frontier of the Roman Empire...

 in 1848 by the cathedral canon, Adam Franz Lennig
Adam Franz Lennig
Adam Franz Lennig was an ultramontanistic German Catholic theologian.-Life:Lennig studied at Bruchsal under the private tutorship of the ex-Jesuit Laurentius Doller, and afterwards at the bishop's gymnasium at Mainz, his birthplace...

, and Professor Caspar Riffel
Caspar Riffel
Caspar Riffel was a historian. He studied under Heinrich Klee at Mainz and Bonn and under Johann Adam Möhler at Tübingen. After his ordination to the priesthood he was named assistant priest at Bingen...

 (died 1856), to organize the Catholics of Germany in defence of their religious freedom and civil rights. The platform and by-laws were published in the Katholik (Mainz, 1848). The organizers of the association called a congress of the Catholic societies of Germany which met at Mainz, 3–6 October 1848. At this assembly 38 societies were represented, and all the Catholic associations of Germany founded to protect religious interests were united into the "Catholic Association of Germany".

The annual congresses of this association led to other organizations; in 1848 the Society of St. Vincent de Paul and the Association of St. Elizabeth; in 1849 the Association of St. Boniface; in 1850 the Society for Christian Art; in 1851 the Catholic Journeymen's Union; these assemblies were the precursors of the "General Congress of the Catholics of Germany" that was held annually.

Academic Pius Associations in Germany, for promoting religious interests and attachment to the Church among Catholic students, were greatly weakened by the Kulturkampf
Kulturkampf
The German term refers to German policies in relation to secularity and the influence of the Roman Catholic Church, enacted from 1871 to 1878 by the Prime Minister of Prussia, Otto von Bismarck. The Kulturkampf did not extend to the other German states such as Bavaria...

.

The Pius Association of Switzerland

This was founded in 1855 by Count Theodore Scherer-Boccard
Theodore Scherer-Boccard
Theodore, Count von Scherer-Boccard was a Swiss journalist and politician.-Life:Theodore Scherer belonged to a distinguished family of Solothurn...

 who remained at its head until his death (died 1885). Its aim was to develop and centralize Catholic associational life in Switzerland.

It was directed by two central committees, and the general meetings were held nearly every year; in addition, there are also cantonal and district assemblies. Many of the local associations had branches for women. From 1899 the society was called the "Swiss Catholic Association"; it then contained 225 groups with 35,000 members. On 22 November 1904, it combined with the "United Societies of Catholic Men and Workingmen" and the "Fédération Romande" to form the "Swiss Catholic Peoples Union".

The Pius Association for Promoting the Catholic Press of Austria

Named after Pope Pius X
Pope Pius X
Pope Saint Pius X , born Giuseppe Melchiorre Sarto, was the 257th Pope of the Catholic Church, serving from 1903 to 1914. He was the first pope since Pope Pius V to be canonized. Pius X rejected modernist interpretations of Catholic doctrine, promoting traditional devotional practices and orthodox...

, it was founded at the Fifth Catholic Congress held at Vienna in 1905 after the presentation by the Jesuit, Father Victor Kolb, in order to offset liberal daily press. This end was to be gained largely by developing the Catholic daily newspapers of 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...

. The president of the association from its founding was Count Franz Walterskirchen-Walfstal.

It supported two daily newspapers of Vienna, the Reichspost and the Vaterland.
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