The Boniface Association for Catholic Germany (Bonifatiusverein für das katholische Deutschland) was founded in 1849 at the initiative of Prof. I. Döllinger, organized by Count Joseph Stolberg-Stolberg, and approved and granted indulgences by Pius IX on 21 April 1852. Leo XIII granted special privileges to priests in 1901, which were expanded by Benedict XV in 1920 and by Pius XI in 1924.
The Association’s purpose is to assist Catholics living in the Diaspora—i.e., in the largely Protestant regions of Germany—and German Catholics abroad, particularly by establishing new parishes, churches, and schools. Its headquarters is in Paderborn, in the province of Westphalia; there are 26 diocesan committees in Germany and 10 abroad. It has its own printing house (Bonifatiusdruckerei) and bookshop in Paderborn, along with the journal *Bonifatiusblatt*. Affiliated associations include: the Academic Boniface Union (*Akademische Bonifatius-Einigung*), founded in 1867; the Boniface Association for Secondary Schools (*Bonifatiusverein für höhere Schulen*), founded in 1921; and the Guardian Angel Association (*Schutzengelverein*), founded in 1894 for children, which merged in 1927 with the Pontifical Society of the Holy Childhood. Other affiliated associations with special purposes include the Boniface Collection Association (*Bonifatius-Sammelverein*), the Boniface Sacred Vestments Association (*Bonifatius-Paramenenverein*), and the Diaspora Priests’ Aid Association (*Diasporapriestershilfe*).