Peter Joseph Elvenich

Who was Peter Joseph Elvenich?

Peter Joseph Elvenich was a German Catholic theologian and philosopher born in Embken, a village that today is part of Nideggen, North Rhine-Westphalia. He was a principal supporter and defender of Hermesianism, a theological belief system based on the teachings of Georg Hermes.

He studied theology and philosophy in Münster and Bonn, and in 1821 became a schoolteacher in Koblenz. During the following year he became a lecturer at the University of Bonn, where in 1826 he became an associate professor of philosophy. In 1829 he attained a full professorship at the University of Breslau, where in 1837 he took on additional duties as librarian.

Following the papal decrees of September 26, 1835 and January 7, 1836, of which Pope Gregory XVI condemned writings issued by Georg Hermes, Elvenich, along with Johann Wilhelm Joseph Braun, traveled to Rome in order to the convince the Pope to revise the decrees of condemnation. Their efforts were in vain, and several years later the condemnation was reiterated by Pope Pius IX. In 1843 Elvenich was removed from his post in Breslau at the request of Johannes von Geissel, coadjutor to the Archbishop of Cologne. After the Vatican Council of 1870, he became a member of the Old Catholic Church.