LENSING, LAMBERT. - Apostle of the good press and representative of the German Catholic Centre Party, b. at Emmerich on 14 June 1851, d. at Dortmund on 18 Dec. 1928. From his youth, through writings and speeches, he advocated the definition of the dogma of papal infallibility. Together with his brother Enrico, in 1875 he founded the Catholic daily Tremonia, and in 1880 he established the General League of the Catholic Associations of Dortmund. Another problem that engaged him was the defence of the working class: this is reflected in his work Der Bergarbeiterstreik des Jahres 1889 and demonstrated by the impetus he gave to Catholic trade unions.
During the Kulturkampf he was repeatedly persecuted. He was one of the founders and, from 1912, a leader of the celebrated Augustinus-Verein, among the most active associations for the dissemination of the Catholic press and culture. He carried out highly effective work in directing the People’s League (Volksverein) for Catholic Germany and many other religious and political organizations. From 1921 he was a member of the Reichstag.