HEINRICH, JOHANN BAPTIST. – Theologian, born in Mainz on 15 April 1816, where he died on 9 February 1891. He studied law in Giessen and obtained his habilitation there. In 1842 he devoted himself to theological studies at Tübingen, Freiburg in Br., and Mainz, where he was ordained a priest in 1844. As an assistant at Mainz Cathedral, he took an active part in the religious affairs of his diocese. He clearly perceived the great possibilities that were opening up for the freedom of the Church in the new political and social atmosphere created after 1848, and the grave responsibilities that this entailed for Catholics.
He was therefore tireless in instructing and inspiring the laity to defend the rights of the Church. Particularly noteworthy in this regard are the articles published in the Mainzer Journal, his activity in the Piusverein, and his celebrated lectures at the General Congresses of the Catholic associations of Germany (Katholikentage). H. was the recognized leader of the Mainz Circle, which, among the various spiritual currents of nineteenth-century Germany, distinguished itself by its combative and tenacious attachment to Rome. From 1850 until his death he was editor of the journal Der Katholik, which contains many of his articles; in 1876 he was one of the co-founders of the Görresgesellschaft.
The new bishop of Mainz, von Ketteler, found in H. his trusted man. He appointed him professor of theology at the diocesan seminary in 1851, canon in 1855, and his vicar general in 1869. At his bishop’s side, H. engaged in fierce struggles with the civil authorities for the freedom of the Church, and continued along the same lines even during the difficult years that followed Ketteler’s death.
A strong supporter of neo-Thomism, he defended it ardently, at times not without harshness. Among his writings, noteworthy are: Dogmatische Theologie (6 vols., Mainz 1873–90), later completed (vols. VII–X) by C. Gutberlet.