Alfons Kempf

Alfons Karl Kempf (born January 30, 1912 in Albstadt , Lower Franconia ; † November 8, 1999 in Würzburg ) was a German auxiliary bishop in the diocese of Würzburg .

Life

Alfons Kempf was born in Albstadt, today a district of Alzenau , in 1912 . Albstadt is a curate in the Alzenau dean's office of the Würzburg diocese . His parents Ludwig and Maria Kempf had a small farm and Alfons should become a craftsman according to his father's will.

On the initiative of Kuratus Josef Krämer, he visited the Kilianeum in Miltenberg and Würzburg . He studied theology at the University of Würzburg and was ordained a priest on February 28, 1937 by Bishop Matthias Ehrenfried in Michael’s Church. In 1932 he joined the Catholic student union WKSt.V. Unitas Hetania at. After years of chaplaincy in Bischofsheim an der Rhön and in the Aschaffenburg collegiate parish of St. Peter and Alexander , he became a hospital chaplain at the Würzburg Juliusspital in 1943 . When two air mines damaged the Juliusspital on February 19, 1945 , his apartment was also destroyed and he lost everything. On September 1, 1945, he took over the parish of St. Gertraud in the Pleich district of Würzburg, first as parish administrator and then as pastor .

On December 27, 1959, Pope John XXIII appointed him . as titular bishop of Limyra (today Myra (Lycia) = Demre) and auxiliary bishop in Würzburg. 132 years after the death of Gregor von Zirkel in 1817, Würzburg had an auxiliary bishop again for the first time. In the Neumünster church that served as a bishop's church until the restoration of the cathedral, Kempf received by the then Diocesan Bishop Josef Stangl , the on February 25, 1960 episcopal ordination . He was given the management of the pastoral office. In the cathedral chapter he was first dean of the cathedral , from 1968 to 1988 he was his provost . He was highly valued for supporting the bishop in the diocese and beyond.

His participation in the Second Vatican Council from 1962 to 1965 had a formative influence on the spirituality of his ministry. In close cooperation with the then chairman of the diocesan council, Dr. Johannes Meisenzahl tirelessly promoted the building of the councils and strengthened the laity in the church. After the death of Dr. He managed Josef Stangl from January 1979 until Dr. Paul-Werner Scheele on October 21, 1979 as vicar capitular the diocese . On March 18, 1987, after reaching the canonical age limit of 75 years, Pope John Paul II accepted his resignation. In 1988 he was relieved of his duties as provost of the cathedral .

Even in retirement, he especially helped out with confirmations . He donated the sacrament of Confirmation to around 310,000 young people and encouraged them, as Christians, to be their husbands or wives in everyday life. Most of his confirmation sermons ended with the sentence "Dare to be a Christian!"

Alfons Kempf was co-consecrator on March 27, 1967 at the episcopal ordination of Martin Wiesend in Bamberg and on October 14, 1988 with Helmut Bauer , his successor as auxiliary bishop in Würzburg .

He spent the last years of his life in the nursing home run by the Oberzell sisters who looked after him during his serious illness until his death on the morning of November 8, 1999. He was buried in the Sepultur of the Würzburg Cathedral .

Auxiliary Bishop Alfons Kempf was made an honorary citizen of his home town of Albstadt in 1960 . He was awarded the Bavarian Order of Merit on May 17, 1963.

He was a member of the Catholic fraternity Franco-Raetia zu Würzburg.

Episcopal coat of arms

Auxiliary Bishop Kempf chose the pelican as a symbol for the Eucharist and three golden balls above it, a reference to St. Nicholas , who was Bishop of Myra in Asia Minor .

As a motto he chose - UT VITAM HABEANT - “So that they have life!” (Joh.10,10), which sums up the aim of his work in five simple words.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Wolfgang Burr (ed.): Unitas manual . tape 4 . Verlag Franz Schmitt, Bonn 2000, p. 449 .
2. ^ Würzburger Katholisches Sonntagsblatt "In memoriam Auxiliary Bishop Alfons Kempf" - special edition.
3. ↑ 100 years of the Catholic German Student Union Franco-Raetia Würzburg, commemorative publication for the 100th foundation festival of the KDSt.V. Franco-Raetia zu Würzburg in the CV, Würzburg 2005.

Web links

• Entry about Alfons Kempf on catholic-hierarchy.org (English)