The Boniface Association, in German Bonifatiuswerk, is a Roman Catholic organization whose primary aim is to support Catholicism in largely Protestant areas of Germany and areas formerly part of the German empire. Founded in 1849 and still in existence, it owes its name to Saint Boniface, traditionally hailed as "The Apostle of the Germans."
It originated from a suggestion made by Johann Joseph Ignaz von Döllinger at the Third Catholic Congress of Germany, held at Regensburg in 1849 and organized by Josef Theodor zu Stolberg-Stolberg. The object of the association is to maintain what the Catholic Church possesses in those regions where Catholics are few in number, to found and support missions and schools, and to erect churches, parish-houses and schools for Catholics in the Protestant parts of Germany. The organization is called Bonifatiusverein für das katholische Deutschland; Stollberg is elected to be its first president. Its second president was the bishop of Paderborn, Konrad Martin; since then the bishop of Paderborn is the official "protector" of the organization. [1]
The territories which the association has taken under its especial care included in the early 20th century: the Diocese of Kulm; the Delegature of Brandenburg and Pomerania, belonging to the Prince-Bishopric of Breslau; the Vicariate Apostolic of Saxony; the Dioceses of Paderborn, Hildesheim, Osnabrück and Fulda; the Northern Missions. The association was managed by a general committee at Paderborn; the diocesan committees have entire control of the contributions they receive; after consultation with their respective diocesan councils, and under the approval of the general committee, the diocesan committees designate the objects to which the money shall be given. Millions have been collected and many churches erected or aided.
Besides the diocesan committees another important branch was formed by the Boniface collecting societies. The first of these was founded in 1885 among the merchants of Paderborn by the Marist congregation; this branch of the association was designed to care for the religious training of Catholic children in non-Catholic communities, by the founding of orphan asylums and institutions where children are prepared for their first communion, funded by the collection and sale of objects of little value in themselves, such trifles as tin-foil, old postage stamps, clothing, leaden seals, old coins, books, cigar bands and - tips. Related to the Boniface Association was the Academic Boniface Association.
Since 1860 the general association has had a printing office (the Bonifatius press) and since 1888 a bookstore for old and new publications, both at Paderborn. The popes have granted indulgences and privileges to priests connected with the association. The association started issuing the "Bonifatiusblatt" in 1850; the "Schlesisches Bonifatiusblatt", 1860 and the "St. Bonifatiusblatt" at Prague, founded in 1904.
The organization was renamed "Bonifatiuswerk der deutschen Katholiken" in 1968. In 1974 it expanded its activities to attend to the diaspora in Scandinavia, and since 1995 it is also active in Estonia and Latvia. [2]
Boniface was an English Benedictine monk and leading figure in the Anglo-Saxon mission to the Germanic parts of Francia during the eighth century. He organised significant foundations of the church in Germany and was made bishop of Mainz by Pope Gregory III. He was martyred in Frisia in 754, along with 52 others, and his remains were returned to Fulda, where they rest in a sarcophagus which remains a site of Christian pilgrimage.
Friedrich Leopold Graf zu Stolberg-Stolberg, was a German lawyer, and translator born at Bramstedt in Holstein. He was also a poet of the Sturm und Drang and early Romantic periods.
The Concilium Germanicum was the first major Church synod to be held in the eastern parts of the Frankish kingdoms. It was called by Carloman on 21 April 742/743 at an unknown location, and presided over by Boniface, who was solidified in his position as leader of the Austrasian church. German historian Gunther Wolf judges that the Concilium was the high point in Boniface's long career.
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Heribert Mühlen was a German Roman-Catholic theologian.
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Count Christian Frederick of Stolberg-Wernigerode was the only son of Count Henry Ernest of Stolberg-Wernigerode, whom he succeeded as ruler of the County of Wernigerode in 1778.
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Ulrich Vogt is a German educator and author.
Lutz E. von Padberg is a German historian whose specialty is medieval history and in particular the Christianization of the Germanic peoples. He is an expert on Saint Boniface, having written biographies of the saint and studies of his veneration.
The Ragyndrudis Codex is an early medieval codex of religious texts, now in Fulda in Germany, which is closely associated with Saint Boniface, who according to tradition used it at the time of his martyrdom to ward off the swords or axes of the Frisians who killed him on 5 June 754 near Dokkum, Friesland. This long association has given the codex the status of a contact relic.
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Baron Ferdinand Wilhelm Adolf Franz von Plettenberg, lateron Count von Plettenberg und Wittem, commonly referred to as Ferdinand von Plettenberg, born July 25, 1690, in Paderborn, died March 18, 1737, in Vienna was Prime Minister of the Electorate of Cologne, Treasurer and Hereditary Marshal of Prince-elector Clemens August of Bavaria and an important supporter of Maria Theresa in the succession to the throne for the Habsburgian Erblande.
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This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain : Lins, Joseph (1907). "Boniface Association". In Herbermann, Charles (ed.). Catholic Encyclopedia . Vol. 2. New York: Robert Appleton Company.