Bernhard Bendel

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Bernhard Bendel (born October 20, 1908 in Steinefrenz , † January 19, 1980 in Mammolshain ) was a German Roman Catholic priest and founder of Opus Spiritus Sancti .

Bernhard Bendel was the eldest of eleven children of the married couple Heinrich Georg Bendel and his wife Katharina, b. Michel. The father ran an inn and he also worked as a farmer. After primary school and private Latin lessons , Bendel started school at the grammar school in Hadamar in the Westerwald. After six years he passed the Abitur in 1928. Then he began his studies at the Philosophical-Theological University Sankt Georgen in Frankfurt am Main . On December 8, 1933, he was ordained a priest in Limburg Cathedral by Bishop Antonius Hilfrich . He took up his first position as chaplain on March 21, 1934 in Bad Schwalbach , the second on April 25, 1936 in Geisenheim / Rheingau . From July 1, 1937, he worked as coadjutor in Neuenhain , and from May 1, 1940 as chaplain in Hattersheim am Main . On June 1, 1940 he was appointed pastor curator, later pastor in Mammolshain / Taunus.

In October 1949, the then Vicar General of the Diocese of Limburg, Georg Höhle, asked him about the establishment of a community of sisters. Further talks followed by March 1950, in which the Limburg Bishop Wilhelm Kempf was also involved. In January 1950, Bernhard Bendel made a pilgrimage to Rome to the graves of the Apostles Peter and Paul on the occasion of the beatification of Vincent Pallotti . The words of the bishop, “By commissioning a new community of sisters, you can work much more deeply in the church than if you are just a pastor in a parish”, was the decisive factor in agreeing to the establishment of a community of sisters.

On May 28, 1950, Bendel founded Opus Spiritus Sancti. It consists of a total of five communities and has branches in Germany, the USA , India , the Philippines and several African countries .

Bernhard Bendel died on January 19, 1980 in Mammolshain under the care of the Holy Spirit Sisters.

literature

  • Titus John Mseke: Bendel, Bernhard . In: Dictionary of African Christian Biography . 2003, online , accessed December 20, 2015.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Diocese of Limburg: Orders, Spiritual Communities, Church Movements ( Memento from December 22, 2015 in the Internet Archive ), accessed on December 20, 2015
personal data
SURNAME Bendel, Bernhard
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German Roman Catholic priest
DATE OF BIRTH October 20, 1908
PLACE OF BIRTH Stone frenzy
DATE OF DEATH January 19, 1980
Place of death Mammolshain