Johannes Czerski (12 May 1813 – 22 December 1893) was a German clergyman, one of the founders of German Catholicism.

Biography

He was born at

Warlubie Warlubie is a village in Świecie County, Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship, in north-central Poland. It is the seat of the gmina (administrative district) called Gmina Warlubie. It lies approximately north-east of Świecie Świecie (; ) is a to ...

West Prussia The Province of West Prussia (; ; ) was a province of Prussia from 1773 to 1829 and from 1878 to 1919. West Prussia was established as a province of the Kingdom of Prussia in 1773, formed from Royal Prussia of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonweal ...

, and was educated at the priests'

seminary A seminary, school of theology, theological college, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called seminarians) in scripture and theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as cle ...

Posen Posen may refer to: Places Europe * Poznań (German: ''Posen''), city in Poland * Grand Duchy of Posen, autonomous province of Prussia, 1815–1848 * Province of Posen, Prussian province, 1848–1918 * Posen (region), the south-western part of t ...

, and ordained in 1842. He was first appointed as

vicar A vicar (; Latin: '' vicarius'') is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior (compare "vicarious" in the sense of "at second hand"). Linguistically, ''vicar'' is cognate with the English p ...

at the cathedral in Posen. In March 1844, he became vicar in Schneidemühl (now

Piła Piła (; ) is a city in northwestern Poland and the capital of Piła County, situated in the Greater Poland Voivodeship. Its population was 71,846, making it the city in the voivodeship after Poznań and Kalisz and the largest city in the north ...

) in

Province of Posen The Province of Posen (; ) was a Provinces of Prussia, province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1848 to 1920, occupying most of the historical Greater Poland. The province was established following the Greater Poland Uprising (1848), Poznań Uprisi ...

. Sentenced to penitential confinement for contracting a

secret marriage Clandestinity is a diriment impediment in the canon law of the Roman Catholic Church. It invalidates a marriage performed without the presence of three witnesses, one of whom must be a priest or a deacon. History It was promulgated in the 16th ...

in 1844, he resigned his

vicariate A vicar (; Latin: ''vicarius'') is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior (compare "vicarious" in the sense of "at second hand"). Linguistically, ''vicar'' is cognate with the English pre ...

, and founded an independent community of Catholics, known as the “Christlich-Apostolisch-Katholische Gemeinde” (Christian-Apostolic Catholic Congregation). He participated in the struggles of

Johannes Ronge Johannes Ronge (16 October 1813 – 26 October 1887) was the principal founder of the New Catholics. A Roman Catholic priest from the region of Upper Silesia in Prussia, he was suspended from the priesthood for his criticisms of the church, and w ...

and the

German Catholics The Catholic Church in Germany () or Roman Catholic Church in Germany () is part of the worldwide Catholic Church in communion with the Pope, assisted by the Roman Curia, and with the German bishops. The current "Speaker" (i.e., Chairman) of th ...

. He dissented from the creed based on Ronge's “Confession of Breslau” adopted by the council which met at

Leipzig Leipzig (, ; ; Upper Saxon: ; ) is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Saxony. The city has a population of 628,718 inhabitants as of 2023. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, eighth-largest city in Ge ...

, March 22, 1845: he took a more conservative viewpoint than Ronge, in particular maintaining the divinity of Jesus. His views were set out in his “Confession of Schneidemühl,” which rejected the reception by the priests alone of the Lord's supper in both kinds, the canonization and invocation of

saint In Christianity, Christian belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of sanctification in Christianity, holiness, imitation of God, likeness, or closeness to God in Christianity, God. However, the use of the ...

indulgences In the teaching of the Catholic Church, an indulgence (, from , 'permit') is "a way to reduce the amount of punishment one has to undergo for (forgiven) sins". The ''Catechism of the Catholic Church'' describes an indulgence as "a remission bef ...

and

purgatory In Christianity, Purgatory (, borrowed into English language, English via Anglo-Norman language, Anglo-Norman and Old French) is a passing Intermediate state (Christianity), intermediate state after physical death for purifying or purging a soul ...

fasting Fasting is the act of refraining from eating, and sometimes drinking. However, from a purely physiological context, "fasting" may refer to the metabolic status of a person who has not eaten overnight (before "breakfast"), or to the metabolic sta ...

, the use of the

Latin language Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

in divine service, the celibacy of priests, the prohibition of mixed marriages, the supremacy of the pope, and other points. Upon the downfall of the German Catholics, he devoted himself to quiet religious activity.

Works

His most important work is the ''Nachlass des sterbenden Papsttums'' (12th ed., 1870). He defended his defection from the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

in the work entitled ''Rechtfertigung meines Abfalles von der römischen Hofkirche'' (1845).

Notes

References

* * ;Attribution *

External links

* 1813 births 1893 deaths 19th-century German Roman Catholic priests German Christian religious leaders People from Świecie County People from West Prussia {{RC-clergy-stub