Franz Xaver Dieringer was a Catholic theologian (22 August 1811, at

Rangendingen Rangendingen is a municipality of the Zollernalbkreis district, in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. History The Abbey of Saint Gall gained possession of Rangendingen around 800 AD. In the 16th century, the town became a possession of the Principalit ...

(

Hohenzollern-Hechingen Hohenzollern-Hechingen () was a small principality in southwestern Germany. Its rulers belonged to the House of Hohenzollern#Swabian branch, Swabian branch of the House of Hohenzollern, Hohenzollern dynasty. History The County of Hohenzollern- ...

) – 8 September 1876, at Veringendorf (today a district of

Veringenstadt Veringenstadt ( Swabian: ''Verenga'') is a town in the district of Sigmaringen, in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated 10 km north of Sigmaringen. Geographical location Veringenstadt is situated in the valley of the Lauchert, a ...

)). He was a professor of dogma and homiletics at the

University of Bonn The University of Bonn, officially the Rhenish Friedrich Wilhelm University of Bonn (), is a public research university in Bonn, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It was founded in its present form as the () on 18 October 1818 by Frederick Willi ...

Life

Dieringer studied theology at

Tübingen Tübingen (; ) is a traditional college town, university city in central Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated south of the state capital, Stuttgart, and developed on both sides of the Neckar and Ammer (Neckar), Ammer rivers. about one in ...

, was ordained at

Freiburg Freiburg im Breisgau or simply Freiburg is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, fourth-largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg after Stuttgart, Mannheim and Karlsruhe. Its built-up area has a population of abou ...

, 19 September 1835, and appointed instructor at the archiepiscopal seminary there. While there, he wrote the first volume of his "System of the Divine Deeds of Christianity". Because of this, he was denied Baden citizenship.Tüchle, Hermann, "Dieringer, Franz Xaver" in: Neue Deutsche Biographie 3 (1957), S. 657
/ref> In 1840, Bishop

Johannes von Geissel Johannes von Geissel (5 February 1796 – 8 September 1864) was a German Catholic Archbishop of Cologne and Cardinal from the Electorate of the Palatinate. Life Gessel was born in Gimmeldingen in the Electorate of the Palatinate. After ...

appointed Dieringer professor of dogma at the ecclesiastical seminary of

Speyer Speyer (, older spelling ; ; ), historically known in English as Spires, is a city in Rhineland-Palatinate in the western part of the Germany, Federal Republic of Germany with approximately 50,000 inhabitants. Located on the left bank of the r ...

and at Easter, 1841, he was also made professor of philosophy in the lyceum of the same city. From 1841 to 1843, Dieringer was editor of the ''Katholik'', a periodical founded in 1821 by

Andreas Räss André Raess (German: Andreas Räss) (6 April 1794, Sigolsheim, Haut-Rhin – 17 November 1887, Strasbourg) was an Alsatian Catholic Bishop of Strasbourg. Life After receiving his classical training at Sélestat and Nancy, Raess studied phil ...

and Nicolaus von Weis, afterwards Bishops of Strasburg and Speyer respectively. The purpose was stated to be "to offer the necessary opposition to the attacks, partly open, partly concealed, against the Church, by orthodox articles on the doctrines of faith and morals, Church history and liturgy, the training of children, devotional exercises by the people, and all that belongs to the Catholic Faith".Löffler, Klemens. "Periodical Literature (Germany)." The Catholic Encyclopedia
Vol. 11. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1911. 20 January 2021 Geissel became coadjutor bishop of Cologne. He ended the dissensions created by the Hermesian School by suspending the refractory Hermesian professors Braun and Achterfeldt of Bonn; and in the spring of 1843, reorganized the theological faculty of that university by calling in as professors the orthodox Dieringer and Martin. Dieringer was appointed professor in ordinary of dogma and homiletics, and provisional inspector of the preparatory seminary. Dieringer represented a traditional, romantic approach to Catholic studies, rather than the rationalist, enlightment-inspired style of the early part of the century. When, at his instance, a homiletic-catechetical seminary was established in 1844, he took charge of the homiletic section. Besides performing the duties of his professorship, he published the "Katholische Zeitschrift fur Wissenschaft und Kunst," a periodical devoted to science and church interests, which he had founded in 1844 in opposition to the periodical of the Hermesians. From 1847 to 1849 it appeared as the "Katholische Vierteljahresschrift". By the mid-1840s secular and Protestant book clubs and reading societies had sprung up in a number of cities. Dieringer took a prominent part in the founding of the Society of St. Charles Borromeo in 1845, of which he was at first secretary and then president from 1846-1871. In 1853, though retaining his professorship and residing at Bonn, he was made canon of

Cologne Cathedral Cologne Cathedral (, , officially , English: Cathedral Church of Saint Peter) is a cathedral in Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia belonging to the Catholic Church. It is the seat of the Archbishop of Cologne and of the administration of the Archd ...

and ecclesiastical councillor. In 1848 he represented the district of

Neuss Neuss (; written ''Neuß'' until 1968; ; ) is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is on the west bank of the Rhine opposite Düsseldorf. Neuss is the largest city within the Rhein-Kreis Neuss district. It is primarily known for its ...

in the parliament at Frankfurt.Lauchert, Friedrich. "Franz Xaver Dieringer." The Catholic Encyclopedia
Vol. 4. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1908. 20 January 2021 In April 1849, he took part in a debate in Cologne as to whether Catholic organizations should concern themselves just with religious questions or should speak out on all political issues as a Catholic political party. The discussion centered on the whether a Catholic political party would be good for the Church, and whether it would be more effective for Catholics to work through existing political parties. His name was among those proposed in 1856 for the vacant See of Paderborn and in 1864 for the

See of Trier The Diocese of Trier (), in English historically also known as ''Treves'' () from French ''Trèves'', is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic church in Germany.Aubert, Roger. "Scholastics and Germanics vs. 'German theologians'", ''History of the Church'', (Hubert Jedin, John Patrick Dolan, eds.) Seabury Press, 1981, p.247
Though his earlier teaching, especially in his "Laienkatechismus", had been in accordance with the doctrine of

papal infallibility Papal infallibility is a Dogma in the Catholic Church, dogma of the Catholic Church which states that, in virtue of the promise of Jesus to Saint Peter, Peter, the Pope when he speaks is preserved from the possibility of error on doctrine "in ...

, at the time of the

First Vatican Council The First Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the First Vatican Council or Vatican I, was the 20th ecumenical council of the Catholic Church, held three centuries after the preceding Council of Trent which was adjourned in 156 ...

he joined the opposition. After negotiations of some length, he yielded to the demand of the

Archbishop of Cologne The Archbishop of Cologne governs the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cologne in western North Rhine-Westphalia. Historically, the archbishop was ''ex officio'' one of the prince-electors of the Holy Roman Empire and ruled the Electorate of Cologne ...

Paul Melchers Paul Melchers (6 January 1813 – 14 December 1895) was a Cardinal and Archbishop of Cologne. At the height of the ''Kulturkampf'' he took refuge in the Netherlands. Life Melchers was born in Münster. He studied law at Bonn (1830–33), an ...

, and made his submission. In order to escape from the strained relations which existed among the divided faculty, Dieringer resigned his offices and dignities during the spring of 1871 and took charge of the parish of Veringendorf in

Hohenzollern The House of Hohenzollern (, ; , ; ) is a formerly royal (and from 1871 to 1918, imperial) German dynasty whose members were variously princes, electors, kings and emperors of Hohenzollern, Brandenburg, Prussia, the German Empire, and Romania. ...

. In 1874 he was among those recommended for the

Archdiocese of Freiburg The Archdiocese of Freiburg im Breisgau (Latin ''Archidioecesis Friburgensis'') is a Latin Church diocese of the Catholic Church in Baden-Württemberg comprising the former states of Baden and Hohenzollern. The Archdiocese of Freiburg is led by a ...

, but he could not accede to the demands of the government of the

Grand Duchy of Baden The Grand Duchy of Baden () was a German polity on the east bank of the Rhine. It originally existed as a sovereign state from 1806 to 1871 and later as part of the German Empire until 1918. The duchy's 12th-century origins were as a Margravia ...

. After 1874 he was constantly in failing health.

Works

Dieringer's works include: * (Mainz, 1841, 2nd ea., 1857), a work which clearly shows the influence of Staudenmaier, especially in its first edition * (Mainz, 1847; 5th ed., 1865) * (Mainz, 1865; 2nd ed. 1868), a work on theology for popular audiences * (Cologne, 1846), the widely-circulated first publication of the Society of St. Charles Borromeo * (Mainz, 1844), a homiletic work * (Mainz, 1863), also homiletic * (Mainz, 1849), against Hirscher's publication under the same title * (Mainz, 1852), a polemical work * (Bonn, 1868; 2nd ed., 1869), against Joseph Kleutgen's * (University Program; Bonn, 1850)

References

;Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Dieringer, Franz Xaver 1811 births 1876 deaths People from Zollernalbkreis 19th-century German Catholic theologians Members of the Frankfurt Parliament University of Freiburg alumni University of Tübingen alumni Academic staff of the University of Bonn 19th-century German male writers 19th-century German writers German male non-fiction writers