WITTMANN, PATRIZIUS. - Journalist, born in Ellwangen (Württemberg) on 4 January 1818, died in Munich on 3 October 1883.
He began his journalistic career, entirely devoted to the strenuous defense of the Catholic cause in Germany, by contributing to the magazine *Sion*, of which he became editor-in-chief in 1841. He subsequently founded and directed *Stadtrat und Landbote*, the *Neue Augsburger Zeitung*, and *Sendberner für Piusvereine*, the association he promoted to unite Bavarian Catholics in a league. He also laid the foundations for the Society of St. Boniface (*Bonifatiusverein*), which became a cornerstone of Catholic Action. A man of exceptional industry, he was not only a leading journalist but also a renowned lecturer, inspiring a vast number of initiatives and institutions with diverse programs. He also concerned himself with ecclesiastical and female vocations, fostering the foundation of a hospitaller congregation of Sisters of Charity. He wrote an *Allgemeine Geschichte der katholischen Missionen* (2 vols., 1846 and 1850), the first of its kind in Germany, preceded by a volume titled *Die Herrlichkeit der kath. Kirche in ihren Missionen seit der Glaubensspaltung* (2 vols., 1846–1841), an eloquent and moving celebration of the Church’s greatness as a teacher of truth in the world.