ROHRBACHER, RENÉ-FRANÇOIS. — Ecclesiastical historian, born on 27 September 1789 at Langatte near Sarrebourg, died on 17 January 1856 in Paris.
He entered the major seminary of Nancy in 1810 and was ordained a priest two years later. He formed a close relationship with F. La Mennais, followed him to La Chesnaie, and in 1828 settled at Malestroit, where he was entrusted with the philosophical and theological instruction of the novices of the Congregation that the La Mennais brothers intended to found. In 1826 he published two writings against Gallicanism and, in 1827, a Tableau des principales conversions qui ont eu lieu parmi les protestants depuis le commencement du XIXᵉ siècle, polemicizing against the Lamennaisian assertion concerning the decline of the contemporary Church. Having separated from La Mennais after the encyclical Mirari vot, he returned to Lorraine in 1833 and became professor of Sacred Scripture at the major seminary of Nancy. His Histoire universelle de l'Église catholique, on which he had been working since 1826, was published in Paris in 28 volumes between 1842 and 1849 (2nd ed., ibid. 1849–53). Rich in information, although not critically elaborated, it seeks to highlight the importance of the Church and the papacy in the history of the world. Through this Histoire, which is predominantly apologetic in character, R. made an effective contribution to eliminating what remained of Jansenism and Gallicanism. The work was also translated into German (v. KNÖFFLER) and English. In addition to the Italian translation, G. Teglio also produced a version of Le Vite dei santi per ogni giorno dell'anno, whose original volumes were published by R. in 1853–54. The Storia universale was continued by P. BALA (v.) and C. Bonacina.