The Wanderer

The Wanderer is a lay-run Catholic weekly newspaper published in Saint Paul, Minnesota, and distributed nationally (Wikipedia). It began as a German-language paper for the city's German Catholics: the Minnesota Historical Society dates its first issue to 16 November 1867 and links its founding to the Benedictine Fr. Clemens Staub and members of the German-speaking Assumption parish (Minnesota Historical Society). Accounts differ on details; Wikipedia credits Joseph Matt with the founding and gives an earlier 1867 date. According to The Remnant's family history, editor Hugo Klapproth was succeeded around 1899 by his son-in-law Joseph Matt, and the title was anglicised to The Wanderer in 1931 (The Remnant).

The Matt family has run the paper since. Walter Matt edited it for more than three decades before leaving in 1967 to found The Remnant over disagreements about the post-conciliar changes. Alphonse J. Matt Jr., who joined in 1965 and became editor-publisher about eight years later, died on 8 December 2019; his obituary called the paper America's oldest national Catholic newspaper (Pioneer Press obituary). A Remnant tribute named his eldest son, Joseph Matt, as editor (The Remnant), and the paper's site refers to its 159th year (The Wanderer).

Its place on the spectrum is debated. Wikipedia lists its ideology as traditionalist conservatism and cites a 2009 assessment in America magazine that placed it at the far right of Catholic publications, while a 2007 Catholic Culture retrospective described loyalty to the Holy See as its defining trait (Catholic Culture). Mike Lewis of the pro-Francis site Where Peter Is listed it among outlets he said had abandoned support for Pope Francis (Millennial Journal). It has reported Fr. Brian Harrison's argument that criticising papal novelties is not dissent (The Wanderer). Catholicism.org has published rebuttals to its coverage of Fr. Leonard Feeney (Catholicism.org). See papal-critique and resistance media.