WICK, JOSEPH LORENZ. - Priest, b. at Mellenthin (East Prussia) on 27 Aug. 1820, d. at Breslau on 9 Feb. 1903.

Ordained a priest in 1845, he first devoted himself to teaching theology at the University of Breslau, and then for twenty years (1852-72) took on the duties of parish priest in the same city. Appointed canon of that Cathedral, W. became the soul of the Silesian Catholic movement, vigorously fighting the Church's battles against the error of the Old Catholics and against the Bismarckian persecutions. A tireless apologist, an orator of exceptional vigor, a most acute polemicist in the press, he was the promoter of deservedly famous associations, such as the Kath. Zentralverein, the Piousverein and many others, open to the most diverse classes and circles. He founded and directed with the firmest spirit the Breslauer Hausblätter (1863), one of the most combative Catholic periodicals in the era of the Kulturkampf, and had the satisfaction of seeing the triumph of Rome over the de-Christianizing work of the Prussian Chancellor. Of his struggles and his successes he left a most vivid account in the autobiographical volume Aus meinem Leben (Breslau 1895), precious for the knowledge of 19th-century German Catholicism.

Bibliography2 works

BIBL.: F. Haase, Leben und Schriften der hath. Theol. Dozenten und Univ. Breslau, Breslau 1913, p. 142 ff.: A. Nowack, Lebensbilder schles. Priester, ibid. 1928, pp. 217-31; H. Jedin, s. v. in LThK, X, coll. 860-61.

Renzo U. Montini

@incollection{ec12_wick_joseph_lorenz, author = {Montini, Renzo Uberto}, title = {Wick, joseph lorenz}, booktitle = {Enciclopedia Cattolica}, volume = {XII}, pages = {1682}, note = {Cited by column}, publisher = {Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico}, address = {Città del Vaticano}, year = {1954}, url = {https://azioneromana.com/article/wick-joseph-lorenz} }

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Wick, Joseph Lorenz

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