Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 15.djvu/708

 WILLIRAM

646

WILMINGTON

about jurisdiction in the convent at Gundersheim. d. at Roermond, Holland, 9 May, 1899. He entered

The convent was originally situated at Brunshausen in the Diocese of Hildesheim, but was transferred to Gundersheim, within the limits of Mainz. Both bishops claimed jurisdiction. After much correspond- ence and several .synods Pope Silvester declared in favour of Hildesheim. When this sentence was

the Society of Jesus at Brieg in the canton of Valais, Switzerland, 1834, was expelled from the country with the other Jesuits in 1847, and ordained priest at Ay in Southern France, 1848. Shortly after, he taught philosophy at Issenheim in Alsace, then exege- sis at Louvain, theology at Cologne, philosophy at

about to be pubUshed at a synod of Pohlde (22 June, Bonn and Aacten and theology at Maria-Laach. In

1001), WiUigis, who was there, left in great excitement 1860 Cardinal Geis.sel requested Wilmers's services

in spite of the remonstrances of the delegate, who as theologian at the provincial council of Cologne,

then placed the sentence of suspension on the arch- Wilmers also attended the Vatican Council in 1S70

bishop. Formal opposition to Rome was not in- as theologian of Bishop Meurin, Vicar Apostolic of

tended, but if Willigis committed any fault in the matter he pub- licly rectified all by a declaration at Gundersheim on 5 Jan., 1007, when he resigned all claims to the Bishop of Hildesheim (Ka- thoHk, loc. cit., p. 145). In his diocese he laboured by building bridges, constructing roads, and fostering art. In Mainz he built a cathedral and consecrated it on 29 Aug., 1009, in honour of St. Martin, but on the same day it was destroyed by fire; he greatly helped the restoration of the old Church of St. Victor and built that of St. Stephen. He al.'Jo built a church at Brunnen, in Nassau. He showed great solici- tude for the religious, and sub- stantially aided the mona.steries of Bleidenstadt, St. Disibod, and Jechaburg in Thuringia. .\fter death he was buried in the Church of St. Stephen.

Mann. Lhes of Ike Popes, IV (St. Louis, 1910). 372, 391, 399.

I'^R.\NCIS MeRSHM.\N.

Williram (Waltram, Wil- tram), Scriptural scholar, b. in Franconia (near Worms), Ger- many; d. in 108.5 at Ebersberg, Bavaria. He was a pupil of the celebrated Lanfranc, and, ac- cording to Tritheim, studied for some time in the University of Paris. Relinquishing the post of scholastic of the cathedral chapter of Bamberg, he retired to a monastery in Fulda. Soon, Henry III summoned him to the famous Benedictine abbey at Ebersberg, which he ruled with great success for thirty-seven years till his death. He is known principally as the author of a translation and paraphra.se of the Canticle of Can- ticles. In the preface he laments the fact that in Germany grammar and dialectics are held in greater favour than the study of Holy Writ, and expresses his

Chasuble or St. Wiluqis (X Century) Preserved in St. Stephen's Church, Mainz

Bombay. After a brief residence at Bonn and Mtinster he went to Ordrupshoj, near Copenhagen, where he wrote a refutation of the attacks of the Protestant preacher Martensen on the Cath- olic Church. It was translated into Danish by the prefect Apos- tolic Hermann Griider, and pub- hshed under the latter's name with the title: "Det protestan- iske og katholiske Trosprincip" (Copenhagen, 1S75). In 1876 Wilmers was called by Cardinal Archbishop Pie to the theological faculty of Poitiers. In 1880 he lectured on theology to the French Jesuits at St. Hclier;. afterwards he taught theology on the Island of Jersey. Thence- forth he devoted himself entirely to wTiting, living first at Ditton- Hall, England, and then at E.\- aeten in Holland. Besides the above treatise Wilmers wrote: "Lehrbuch der Religion" (1855- 57); "Geschichte der Religion" (18.56), translated into several languages; "Lehrbuch der Re- ligion fur hohere Lehranstalted" (1869); "Handbuch der Re- hgion" (1871). These treatises were frequently republished. His last works were "De reUgione revelata" and "De Christ i ec- cle.sia" (1897); he nearly fin- ished the third volume of the series "De fide divina", which was published in 1902.

Tholen, Menologium oder Lebensbilder au3 der Gesch. der deutschen Ordensprovinz (Roermond, 1891), printed for privatd circulation.

N. SCHEU).

Wilmington, Diocese of (Wilmingtoniensis), erected 'i March, 1868. It includes what is known as the Delmarvia Peninsula, the State of Delaware, nine counties of Maryland, and two counties of Virginia

high appreciation of Lanfranc for having devoted him- east of Chesapeake Bay. The first Catholic mi.ssion

self to a deeper study of the Bible and drawn many German scholars to France. The jiages of the work are divided into three columns: The first contains a Latin paraphrase in Leonine hexameters; the second, the text of the Vulgate; and the third, a German ex- position in prose. From beginning to end, Williram applies his subject allegorically to Christ and the Church. The numerous still extant manuscripts bear witness to the favour with which the work was re- ceived. Hoffmann published two of them in his edition of Williram (Breslau, 1837).

Seemiilleh, Die Handsckri/len u. Quellen von Williranu dnUseher Paraphrase des hohen Liedes (Strasburg, 1877); Wai/- TER, Die deutsche HiheliiberseUung des Mittelaltcra (Brunswick, 1892); GoeciiLER, Dictionnaire th^ohaique.

CuAni.KS F. Arnold. Wilmers, Wit.helm, professor of philosophy and theology, b. at Boke in Westphalia, 30 January, 1817;

in this territory was founded at Bohemia Manor, Cecil Co., Maryland, in 1704 by the Jesuits, who were the only priests on the peninsula until 1808, when Rev. Patrick Kenny came to reside at Coffee Run, Delaware (see Del.\ware). The first church in the city of Wilmington wtis St. Peter's (1808), now the cathedral. The first bishop was Rt. Rev. Thomas A. Becker (q. v.), before his election a priest at Rich- mond, Virginia. He found in the new diocese only eight priests and fourteen churches, most of these scarcely more than sheds. St. Peter's Orphanage and St. Peter's School were in charge of the Sisters of Charity, two more schools had recently been closed, and the sisters withdrawn to Philadelphia. The Catholic population of the whole diocese did not exceed .5000. By constant .and untiring effort in the face of extreme poverty, scarcity of vocations, and