George Zurcher

George Zurcher (December 12, 1852 – September 11, 1931) was an American Catholic priest and anti-alcohol advocate. He was ordained in 1877 and, except for a 6-year period when he was suspended, served as a priest for the rest of his life. He predominantly served at parishes in Western New York. While the chaplain of the poorhouse in Buffalo, Zurcher became convinced that the consumption of alcohol was an evil that should be personally avoided. From 1895 he advocated for it to be banned.

Zurcher's strong beliefs came into conflict with the Catholic Church. He was reprimanded by Bishop Stephen V. Ryan in 1895 for sending a letter to the Buffalo Times. Part of the letter incorrectly attacked Jesuits in the Diocese of Buffalo for selling beer at a Catholic parochial school. Zurcher's third book, Monks and their Decline, was placed on the Index of Forbidden Books in 1898. On All Saints Day 1899 he gave a homily critical of the practice of collecting money for souls in purgatory. This led to a six-year suspension from ministry.

In 1906, Zurcher's suspension was lifted and he returned to being a parish priest in 1907. He edited the quarterly publication Catholics and Prohibition 1909–1919, and helped found the Catholic Prohibition League of America out of frustration with the Catholic Total Abstinence Union of America in 1914. He died on September 11, 1931, and was buried in Eden Center, New York.