COLMAR, Joseph Ludwig. – Bishop of Mainz, b. at Strasbourg on 22 June 1760, d. at Mainz on 15 Dec. 1818. Ordained priest on 20 Dec. 1783, he was appointed curate of the church of St Stephen in Strasbourg, and during the Revolution and the Terror continued in his ministry, thereby earning from Napoleon the appointment as Bishop of Mainz.
To the disorder found in the diocese he brought eight months of steady work, succeeding in opening a seminary for the clergy and a diocesan gymnasium; then, through frequent visitations and ministrations, he renewed the religious life of the clergy and people. He strove for the return of religious communities, but only managed to revive the institute of the English Ladies. He also founded the institute of the Sisters of Divine Providence. The epidemic of 1813–14 found him among the most zealous and charitable in the care of the sick.
He left a manual of catechetical instruction, Katechismus des Mainzer Bistums (Mainz 1840); a collection of sermons of solid and profound doctrine (Predigten, 7 vols. [Mainz 1836; Regensburg 1879–84]). Notable also are his works: S. Ignati sententiae et effata (Mainz 1808); Statuta diocesis Magnutinae (ibid. 1811).