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Breidt and Aachen. Through the influence of Mother
Frances Schervier, foundress of the Little Sisters
of the Poor of St. Francis, Hoever, at Christmas, 1857,
dedicated himself with four others to the service of
God and of the abandoned men. In 1860 the
Brothers obtained a home at Aachen. In the following
year (.5 Jan.) Cardinal Geissel, Archbishop of Cologne,
approved the new congregation. When Hoever died
in 1864, it had twenty-six members and some postu-
lants. In 1869 the institution received a Catholic
orphanage at Moabit, Berlin, and since 1866 it has
spread in the United States (Teutopohs, Illinois;
Detroit, Michigan; Thenville, Kentucky; and Cin-
cinnati, Ohio) . Although in the Austro-Prussian war,
1866, and in the Franco-Prussian war, 1870-71, the
Poor Brothers were helpful in the field hospitals, the
Prussian Kullurkampf did not spare them; in 1876-77
they had to give up all their houses in Prussia. They
retired to Blyerheide on the Dutch frontier, where
the new mother-house was erected. After 1888 the
Brothers were allowed to return to Prussia, and differ-
ent houses were founded ; Hohenhof in Upper Silesia,
1891 ; Dormagen on the Rhine, 1902, etc.; in Belgium at
Voelkerich, 1900; in Holland at Roermond, 1903. In
the United States the Poor Brothers possess a house
of education at IMt. Alverno near Cincinnati; and St.
Vincent's in Cincinnati. In 1907 the members of the
Congregation were 230, of whom 50 were in the United
States. The constitutions of the Poor Brothers were
approved by Pius X in 1910.
Der setige P. Johannes Hoever und seine Stiftung (Aachen, 1896); Heimbucher, Die Orden und Kongregationen, II (Pader- born, 1907), a. v. Arme BrUder vom hi. Framiscus.
LivARius Oligeb.
Poor Catholics {Pauperes Catholici), a religious mendicant order, organized in 1208, to reunite the Waldenses with the Church and combat the current heresies, especially the Albigensian. The recruits were taken from the "Pauperos Lugdunenses" (orig- inal name of the Waldenses) ; however, to distinguish them from the latter. Innocent III gave them the name of "Pauperes Catholici".
The heretical movement of the Albigenses had taken such enormous proportions in the beginning of the thirteenth century that they were justly called by Innocent III a greater peril to the Church than the Saracens. Their doctrine was dualistic. They be- lieved and taught that the visible and invisible world emanated from two separate and distinct, coeternal principles, one essentially bad, which created the material world, and the other essentially good, author of the spiritual world. This doctrine led logically to the renunciation of all things material. Hence they rejected marriage, the use of animal food, hell, purga- tory etc., and advocated a life of self-denial and re- nunciation of all material pleasures. The systematic teaching of these doctrines, as well as the abstemious life of the sectaries, rapidly influenced the richer classes, especially the nobility, of whom it is said that they preferred sending their children for education to the heretics rather than to CathoUc schools. The Waldenses, on the other hand, formed a religious, social movement among the common people, who had become dissatisfied with their economic and social conditions and estranged from religion on account of the scandalous neglect of the clergy. The latter, un- fortunately, took more interest in the administration of their temporal affairs than in administering to the spiritual needs of the faithful. Innocent III com- plains bitterly, in a letter to the bishops, saying that the people are hungry for the Bread of Life, but that there is no one to break it for them. Public preaching, exclusively in the hands of the bishops, had become a rare event.
The result was that the common people, who needed spiritual help in a time of religious and social disturb- ance, looked for religious support elsewhere. They
began to study the Sacred Scriptures and, not having
the proper religious guidance, soon regarded them as
their sole authority. They practised rehgion accord-
ing to their conception of the Gospel and preached the
same openly to their fellow-men, believing this to be
in conformity with the teaching of Christ. Still, they
tried to live up to the laws and regulations of the
Church but, being told by the pope to stop preaching
until they had conferred with the proper author-
ities, they disobeyed, continuing to preach as usual,
attacking the scandalous life of the clergy, and finally
becoming antagonistic to the Church itself. Although
at war with the Church, they vigorously fought its
most dangerous enemy, the Albigenses, whom they
regarded in the beginning as equally dangerous to
themselves. The position of the Church was critical,
yet not hopeless. Having thus far failed in its at-
tempts to suppress the heresy, on account of the in-
adequate methods of its missionaries, it now adopted
a new method, which consisted in meeting the enemy
with its own weapons: fearlessly preaching the word
of God and leading a life of resignation and evangelical
poverty. Those who already practised this life were,
of course, considered the fittest men for this work.
The Church saw that the Waldenses, who constituted
the masses, were gradually drifting away. Its plan
was to bring these still harmless but zealous workers
back to the fold in reorganizing them according to
their former practice of studying the Sacred Scrip-
tures, preaching the word of God, and following the
rule of absolute poverty and resignation. Once re-
united, they would then form a phalanx of energetic
soldiers fit to oppose the Albigenses.
Through the missionary activities of Bishop Diego of Osma and St. Dominic, a small group of Waldenses, under the leadership of Duran of Huesca (Spain), was won back to the Church during a rehgious discussion at a meeting held at Pamiers (France) towards the end of 1207. These new converts, desirous of continu- ing their religious activity, went the same year to Rome, where they were welcomed by Innocent III. Anxious to realize his plan, the pope gave the young band, seven in number, a constitution by which they could retain their former rule of life, and which pointed out to them a definite plan they were to follow in preaching against the Albigenses. Aside from this they had to make a profession of faith which repre- sented the doctrine of the Church relative to all cur- rent heresies, and which was intended, not only to free their minds from all heretical tendencies and subject them to the authority of the Church, but also to offer them a guide according to which they could enter upon their missionary activities with a series of formulated truths giving them a clear outline of their faith and absolute certainty in their work. After having prom- ised allegiance to the pope and the doctrines of the Church, they entered upon their mission in the begin- ning of 1208. Innocent III recommended them to the bishops of Southern France and Spain. They seemed to be successful, for we soon find them busy, not only through Southern France, but even as far as Milan, where they founded a school in 1209 to gather and educate recruits for their order. Three years later, 1212, a group of penitents placed themselves under their spiritual direction. Within four years of their foundation they extended their activities over the Dio- ceses of B6ziers, Uzes, Nimes, Carcassonne, Narbonne, Taragon, Marseilles, Barcelona, Huesca, and Milan.
However, in spite of their apparent success, the undertaking of the Poor Catholics was doomed from the beginning. They became a victim of the unfavour- able conditions under which they originated. After 1212 they began to disintegrate. Innocent III stood by them for four years, making concession after con- cession, repeatedlv urging the bishops to support them, recommending them to the King of Taragon; he even went so far as to exempt them from taking
