The Wanderer is a lay Roman Catholic weekly newspaper published in Saint Paul, Minnesota, and distributed to a national market. It was founded by Joseph Matt on 7 October 1867. Unlike diocesan publications or those of religious institutes, the newspaper is independent of ecclesiastical oversight. It is considered conservative and traditionalist.^[1][2][3][4]

This article relies largely or entirely on a single source. (January 2012)

The Wanderer gives the following self-description:

The Wanderer, a national Catholic weekly journal of news, commentary, and analysis, has been publishing continually since 1867. Owned and operated by Catholic laymen, The Wanderer is independent of ecclesiastical oversight but maintains a fiercely loyal adherence to Catholic doctrine and discipline.^[5]

It was originally published in Milwaukee, Wisconsin in German to minister to German immigrants to Minnesota, Wisconsin, and the Dakotas who were being "attracted to and influenced by Masonic and quasi-Masonic German-language newspapers and organizations." A German language edition was published until 1957. The English edition began in 1931.^[5]

The Wanderer was described in America magazine in 2009 as "about as far to the right as you can get and still be in the Catholic Church".^[2]

The Wanderer says it was a major early opponent of a perceived "Americanizing" of the Church. That tendency was condemned by Pope Leo XIII in his 1899 apostolic letter, Testem benevolentiae nostrae.^[5]

According to The Wanderer, through the Vatican II years, a dispute over Vatican II led to Walter Matt leaving The Wanderer to his brother, Alphonse Matt, and founding The Remnant in 1967.^[5]