WACKER, THEODOR. — German politician, b. 5 Nov. 1845 at Bohlsbach (Baden), d. 9 Nov. 1921 at Zähringen (Freiburg im Breisgau). In 1866 he was ordained priest; from 1883 until his death he served as parish priest at Zähringen.
A member of the Baden Landtag from 1883 to 1903, W. fought against liberalism and social democracy, reorganising the Catholic-popular party and giving it the new name of Zentrum. A convinced Christian democrat, he worked especially for the freedom of the Church and for the political equality of German Catholics. Among his political writings, the address Zentrum und kirchliche Autorität, delivered at Essen on 15 Feb. 1914, was placed on the Index for certain passages that were not entirely clear regarding the independence of political activity from ecclesiastical authority.