Franz Meurer

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Franz Meurer (2015)

Franz Meurer (born October 1, 1951 in Cologne ) is a German Catholic priest .

Career

Franz Meurer grew up in Cologne-Mülheim in the Bruder-Klaus-Siedlung and attended the old-language Hölderlin-Gymnasium . He then studied for a year jurisprudence , then social sciences and Catholic theology ; In 1978 he was ordained a priest . From 1978 to 1982 he was chaplain at the Cologne parish of St. Agnes , then in St. Cosmas and Damian in Pulheim and last county youth pastor in the Rhein-Sieg-Kreis . Since the 1980s, Franz Meurer belonged to the working group for pastoral services in the Archdiocese of Cologne and was co-editor of its magazine Wider die Resignation with criticism and suggestions for church practice.

Pastor in Cologne

Meurer as speaker at Pulse of Europe (2017)

Since 1992 Franz Meurer has been pastor of the Catholic parish of St. Theodor and St. Elisabeth in the districts of Vingst and Höhenberg , which are considered "problem areas": around 23,000 people live there, almost 4,000 of whom receive social assistance; every third is a foreigner. "A social hotspot - and since Meurer's work also a haven of charity," said the star . He initiated a number of activities, from a closet and a food distribution on holiday camps for 500 children - called "HöVi Country" and co-sponsorship of the Catholic and Protestant churches Höhenberg Vingst - to programs for the unemployed such as the possibility of a forklift driver's license to acquire. For him, the basis of his work as a pastor is the connection between liturgy and diakonia . But also art exhibitions under the motto Art - Signals from Vingst have been taking place regularly since 1993, first in the parish hall and from 2003 in the new St. Theodor Church , consecrated in 2002 : "Personally, I think a lot about approaching religion through the aesthetic side", says Franz Meurer, because he sees religion as “a kind of culture” with a peace-building effect - also intercultural and connecting religions.

With his sometimes unconventional actions, Meurer repeatedly attracts attention: For example, at a Catholic Sunday mass he held a collection for the construction of the controversial Cologne Grand Mosque (proceeds: 811.57 euros), distributed condoms or planted 1000 flower beds with his community. He pleaded for the admission of more refugees and did not avoid conflicts with the right-wing extremist citizens' movement Pro NRW : Because he removed the party's election posters, he had to appear in court twice. Pro NRW therefore described him as an “extremely controversial” and “good-humored pastor” who “even worked with latent [!] Violent left-wing extremists”. His resolute commitment earned the “contentious Rhenish Christian” numerous nicknames in the media, such as “the ghetto preacher”, “Don Camillo from Vingst”, “Cologne Franziskus” or “Archbishop of Hearts”. At times he speaks the radio devotion on WDR 2 .

Meurer: “When I was ordained a priest, I promised to look after the poor. Unfortunately, I also promised not to get married, but that's a different matter. "

Theological orientation

Meurer's motto is: "Nothing is esu schläch, dat et nit for jet jot es." ("Nothing is so bad that it is not good for something.")

Ecumenical cooperation with neighboring evangelical communities is a matter of course for him: “Ecumenism is twice as good and half as expensive.” He is known as an expert on Christian-Islamic dialogue and is involved in a variety of ways for the peaceful coexistence of Christians and Muslims : “Anyone with us in The quarter would despise Muslims or would despise the Christians on the part of the Muslims would have a difficult position ”; Despite high unemployment, poverty and neglect, the coexistence of religions and cultures in the city district is good, and a good climate for this arises through benevolence, which is more than respect or dialogue. For Franz Meurer, dialogue takes place in the city district “primarily practically, less through conversation”.

Entrance area to the basement of the church

During the reconstruction of the parish church of St. Theodor, which was badly damaged by an earthquake in 1992, Franz Meurer, as pastor, attached great importance to the fact that it had a basement floor that could be used for social purposes, in which there was a clothes closet, a kitchen, rooms for food distribution, a community workshop and a garage. This expresses the program in Meurer's theology: “The basis of everything is mercy . […] The Diakonie cellar is also the foundation for the entire church building. ”A café and a long gallery for art exhibitions are connected to the actual round church space above, tangentially and open to the church space :“ Secular and sacred space are in dialogue with one another , are not mixed up, but related to each other and belong together. [...] In turning to the other, community and equality already arose. In Mass . They find their specific expression "About a spiral path outside of the church building, where the Stations of the Cross are arranged, the accessible roof is reached that provides a view of the city: a" view, on the one hand the memory of does not lose sight of the Way of the Cross and, on the other hand, of the people in the neighborhood ”; Franz Meurer recognizes in this “the fourth dimension of church activity ” alongside worship, diakonia and community: “to give others the testimony of what carries one”.

Honors

Awarding of the Ring of Honor of the Rhineland 2019 to Pastor Meurer: Jürgen Becker , Ulrike Lubek (LVR), Franz Meurer and Anne Henk-Hollstein (Chairperson of the Rhineland Regional Assembly )

In 2002 Franz Meurer became Cologne's first “ alternative honorary citizen ”. In 2004 he received the Cardinal Frings Medal of the Catholic Social Institute and in 2010 the HumanAward of the Kluge Family Foundation . In 2014 he was honored with the Golden Steering Wheel for his extraordinary commitment by the Great Mülheim Carnival Society . Meurer always puts the associated amounts of money into his projects. When the writer and orientalist Navid Kermani received the Hessian Culture Prize in 2009 , he passed on his prize money of 11,500 euros to Meurer.

In 2015 Pastor Meurer received the German Fundraising Prize for “special achievements in raising funds for charitable purposes”. He was fighting “with creativity, humor and also against resistance for a good cause”, it was said to justify. Two years later he and the Protestant pastor Hans Mörtter received the Georg Leber Prize for civil courage from the Luther Church in Cologne , awarded by the IG Bauen-Agrar-Umwelt . In 2019, Meurer was awarded the Rhineland Ring of Honor by the Landschaftsverband Rheinland (LVR) for its diverse social commitment , the highest award given by the LVR. In the same year he was honored by the Lions Club (Rhineland-South District) with the club's highest honor, the Melvin Jones Fellow .

In 2019 the traditional corps of the Cologne professional fire brigade , the "Kölschen Funkentöter", named him honorary fire master. In 2020 Meurer was awarded the Order of Merit of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia .

Publications

  • As editor: Ort Macht Heil: A reading and practical book about living space-oriented pastoral care in Cologne-HöVi . Berlin / Münster 2006. KirchenZukunft concrete, Vol. 3, ISBN 978-3-82588238-9
  • With Jürgen Becker and Martin Stankowski : Not doing anything. Tool box for do-gooders . Kiepenheuer & Witsch, Cologne 2007, ISBN 3-462-03795-1 .
  • With Peter Otten: If not here, where else? Church completely different . Gütersloher Verlagshaus, Gütersloh 2011, ISBN 978-3-579-06560-1
  • With Peter Otten: Bible reloaded . Gütersloher Verlagshaus, Gütersloh 2013, ISBN 978-3-579-06586-1
  • With Peter Otten: Heaven reloaded . Gütersloher Verlagshaus, Gütersloh 2014, ISBN 978-3-579-08506-7
  • With Jochen Ott and Peter Sprong: Rhenish Capitalism. A pamphlet for more justice . Greven 2014, ISBN 978-3-7743-0631-8
  • Encounter and unity. Interreligious practice in the parish and around the Cologne mosque building. In: Lebendige Seelsorge 4/2013, pp. 263–268.
  • Faith, God and Currywurst. Our place is with the people. Herder, Freiburg im Breisgau 2020, ISBN 978-3-451-39239-9 .

Web links

Commons : Franz Meurer  - Collection of Images

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Church in the district. Retrieved on August 7, 2019 (German).
  2. ↑ Bianca Pohlmann: Cardinal Woelki: Deeply rooted in Cologne. In: rundschau-online.de. July 10, 2014, accessed April 17, 2015 .
  3. ↑ Diocesan Library Cologne , becker-huberti.de .
  4. ^ A b c Körber Foundation Hamburg: Franz Meurer: KörberForum. In: koerber-stiftung.de. September 21, 2007, archived from the original on April 17, 2015 ; Retrieved April 17, 2015 .
  5. ↑ a b c d Christian Parth: Catholic Church with a difference: The Ghetto Preacher. In: stern.de . March 29, 2007, accessed April 17, 2015 .
  6. ^ HöVi-Land: The children's area. In: hoevi-land.de. June 26, 2015, accessed April 17, 2015 .
  7. ^ Parish letter St. Agnes Cologne, 2/2007 , accessed on April 17, 2015.
  8. ↑ hoevi.info ( memento of April 18, 2015 in the Internet Archive ), accessed April 17, 2015.
  9. ↑ a b Ulrike Hummel: Art and Religion in the Open Mosque Deutsche Welle, October 4, 2012, accessed on April 18, 2015.
  10. ↑ Cologne social pastor to help refugees in his community - domradio.de. In: domradio.de. October 1, 2014, accessed April 18, 2015 .
  11. ^ PRO NRW - KV Leverkusen - Scandal Pastor Franz Meurer appears in Leverkusen. In: leverkusen.pro-nrw.net. January 14, 2014, archived from the original on April 17, 2015 ; Retrieved April 17, 2015 .
  12. ^ Robert Baumanns: Meisner successor: Pastor Meurer does not want to become archbishop. In: express.de. April 6, 2014, accessed April 17, 2015 .
  13. ↑ a b The GMKG 2014 Golden Steering Wheel for Pastor Franz Meurer. In: gmkg.de. Retrieved April 17, 2015 .
  14. ↑ Franz Meurer. In: Church in the WDR. January 17, 2014, accessed December 14, 2018 .
  15. ↑ Cologne social pastor Franz Meurer values ​​his own freedom. In: domradio.de. October 5, 2018, accessed January 8, 2019 .
  16. ↑ Gabi Knops-Feiler: Leverkusen: Cologne Pastor Meurer is now 'Ehrenfunk'. In: rp-online.de. February 3, 2014, accessed April 17, 2015 .
  17. ↑ domradio.de, interview June 14, 2013 , accessed on April 18, 2015.
  18. ^ Franz Meurer: Encounter and Unity. In: Lebendige Seelsorge 4/2013, pp. 263–268, here p. 263.266.
  19. ↑ Franz Meurer, Peter Otten: If not here, where else? Church completely different. Gütersloh 2011, pp. 87–90.
  20. ^ Cardinal Frings Medal for the Cologne pastor Franz Meurer - domradio.de. In: domradio.de. January 1, 2004, accessed April 17, 2015 .
  21. ^ University of Cologne - Kluge Family Foundation. In: hf.uni-koeln.de. May 11, 2012, accessed April 17, 2015 .
  22. ↑ Koch apologizes at the award of the Hessian Culture Prize - domradio.de. In: domradio.de. November 26, 2009, accessed April 17, 2015 .
  23. ↑ Fundraising Prize 2015 for Cologne social priest Meurer - domradio.de. In: domradio.de. April 15, 2015, accessed April 17, 2015 .
  24. ↑ Two champions for justice and against exclusion honored. (No longer available online.) In: lokalkompass.de. October 10, 2017, archived from the original on October 12, 2017 ; accessed on October 11, 2017 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.lokalkompass.de
  25. ↑ Cologne social priest Meurer receives ring of honor of the Rhineland. In: domradio.de. January 3, 2019, accessed January 3, 2019 .
  26. ↑ Lions clubs honor the Cologne pastor Franz Meurer. In: ksta.de. November 4, 2019, accessed November 5, 2019 .
  27. ↑ Verena Tröster: "When things get serious like the fire brigade, then we are there". Pastor Meurer appointed honorary fire chief. In: domradio.de. November 25, 2019. Retrieved November 29, 2019 .
  28. ^ The state government of North Rhine-Westphalia: Awarding the State Order of Merit , accessed on July 1, 2020
personal data
SURNAME Meurer, Franz
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German clergyman
DATE OF BIRTH October 1, 1951
PLACE OF BIRTH Cologne