The American Cyclopædia (1879)/Ronge, Johannes

RONGE, Johannes, a German priest, born at Bischofswalde, Prussian Silesia, Oct. 16, 1813. He completed his studies at Breslau, and was chaplain at Grottkau from 1840 to 1843; but for refusing to submit to the discipline of the church he was suspended and afterward excommunicated. In 1844 he addressed a letter to Bishop Arnoldi denouncing the exhibition of the holy coat at Treves as idolatrous, and next he called upon the German Catholics to secede from Rome. His agitation led to the formation of the German Catholic denomination, but most of its members in 1862 joined the national Protestant church. (See .) In 1847-'9 Ronge was a prominent democrat, and subsequently he was an exile in London till 1861, when he returned to Germany, where for some time he continued active for reform.