BONIFATIUSVEREIN FÜR DAS KATHOLISCHE DEUTSCHLAND. - The Association of St Boniface for Catholic Germany was founded in 1849 on the initiative of Prof. I. Döllinger, organized by Count Giuseppe Stolberg-Stolberg, and approved and granted indulgences by Pius IX on 21 Apr. 1852. In 1901 Leo XIII granted special privileges for priests, which were extended by Benedict XV in 1920 and by Pius XI in 1924.
The purpose of the Association is to assist Catholics living in the Diaspora, that is, in the predominantly Protestant regions of Germany, and German Catholics outside Germany, especially through the establishment of new parishes, churches, and schools. Its principal headquarters are at Paderborn in the province of Westphalia; there are 26 diocesan committees in Germany and 10 outside Germany. It has its own printing press (Bonifatiusdruckerei) and bookshop at Paderborn, with the journal Bonifatiusblatt. Affiliated associations: Akademische Bonifatius-Einigung since 1867; Bonifatiusvereins für höhere Schulen since 1921; Schutzengelvereins since 1894 for children, united in 1927 with the Pontifical Society of the Holy Childhood. Other affiliated associations with special purposes: Bonifatius-Sammelvereins (for collections), Bonifatius-Paramentenvereins (for sacred furnishings), Diasporapriesterhilfe (for the support of Diaspora priests).