The New International Encyclopædia/Reinkens, Joseph Hubert

REINKENS, rin'kens, Joseph Hubert (1821–96). The first Old Catholic bishop. He was born at Burtscheid, near Aix-la-Chapelle; studied theology at Bonn; was ordained priest of the Roman Catholic Church; and in 1853 was appointed professor of Church history at Breslau. In 1870 he united with Dollinger in the Old Catholic movement, was suspended by the Bishop of Breslau, and the students were forbidden to attend his lectures. In 1873 he was consecrated Bishop at Rotterdam by the Jansenist Bishop of Deventer. He soon took the oath of allegiance to the Government and was recognized by Prussia as a Catholic bishop, with his residence at Bonn, and remained there in this capacity till his death. His publications include: Hilarius von Poitiers (1864); Martin von Tours (1866); Revolution und Kirche (1876); Melchior von Diepenbrock (1881); Lessing über Tolcranz (1883). See Old Catholics.