MAUSBACH, JOSEPH. - Moral theologian and apologist, b. at Wipperfeld on 7 February 1861, d. at Ahrweiler on 31 January 1931. After some years of pastoral ministry in Cologne, from 1892 until his death he was professor of moral theology and apologetics at the University of Münster. His teaching, owing to his profound knowledge of the great masters, particularly St. Augustine and St. Thomas, and to his sensitivity to modern problems, was attended also by students from other faculties. M. was an esteemed lecturer at Catholic conventions and congresses.
Among his extensive scholarly output, comprising 35 studies and 94 lectures and reports, the following deserve mention: Die Ethik des hl. Augustinus (Friburgo in Br. 1909; 2nd ed. there 1929 in 2 vols.); Die katholische Moral, ihre Methoden, Grundsätze und Aufgaben (Colonia 1911), a work which appeared in a 5th edition under the title Die katholische Moral und ihre Gegner (there 1921); Grundzüge der katholische Apologetik (Münster 1916; 6th ed. there 1934, edited by G. Wunderle); Katholische Moraltheologie (Münster 1915-18; 7th ed. there 1934, edited by G. Tischleder, M.'s successor to the chair of Moral Theology, in 3 vols.); Thomas von Aquin als Meister christlicher Sittenlehre (Monaco-Roma 1925); Dasein und Wesen Gottes (Münster 1929-30, in 2 vols.).