The New International Encyclopædia/Ronge, Johannes

RONGE, rṓn'ge, Johannes (1813-87). The principal founder of the German Catholics (q.v.). He was born at Bischofswalde, Silesia, was educated at Breslau, entered the Roman Catholic priesthood, and was settled at Grottkau when he published criticisms of the relation between Rome and the Breslau Cathedral chapter, and was suspended in consequence (1843). He then went to Laurahütte in Upper Silesia as a teacher, and while there the exhibition of the Holy Coat (q.v.) at Treves so stirred his ire that he denounced it in print (1844), and was excommunicated. The agitation occasioned by his action led to the founding of the German Catholic Church, and he became pastor of the German Catholic Church at Breslau in 1845. Ronge took part in the political struggles of 1848 and was prominent as a democratic leader. From 1849 to 1861 he was a fugitive in consequence of his political activities. When permitted to return he went to Breslau, and in 1863 to Frankfort, and endeavored to revive the waning German Catholicism. In 1873 he removed to Darmstadt, and there edited a paper in promotion of his plans. He died in Vienna, October 26, 1887. Consult The Autobiography and Justification of J. Ronge, Translated from the Fifth German Edition (London, 1846).