German military ordinariate

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German military ordinariate
Basic data
Country Germany
Ecclesiastical province Immediate
Diocesan bishop Franz-Josef Overbeck
Emeritus diocesan bishop Walter Mixa
Vicar General Reinhold Bartmann
Dean's offices 4 (December 31, 2012 / AP 2014 )
Parishes 91 (December 31, 2012 / AP 2014 )
Diocesan priest 63 (December 31, 2012 / AP 2014 )
Religious priest 4 (December 31, 2012 / AP 2014 )
Friars 4 (December 31, 2012 / AP 2014 )
rite Roman rite
Liturgical language German
cathedral John's basilica
Website www.kmba.de

The German Military Ordinary , also known as the Catholic Military Bishop's Office or Catholic Military Pastoral Care, is a military ordinariate for Roman Catholic soldiers in the Bundeswehr , their spouses and children. It is immediately subordinate to the Holy See . The bishopric is the Johannes-Basilika in Berlin-Neukölln . Franz-Josef Overbeck , Bishop of Essen , has been the military bishop since 2011 .

history

On July 20, 1933, the military vicariate for the jurisdiction of the Catholic field provost was founded (cf. Art. 27 of the Reich Concordat ). Until the apostolic constitution Spirituali militum curae was passed by Pope John Paul II on April 21, 1986, the full episcopal rights for military chaplaincy rested with the Pope. If the person responsible for the military chaplaincy was previously Vicarius Castrensi's deputy to the Pope for this area, he has now been given full episcopal rights. The German military ordinariate is always led by a German diocesan bishop , which distinguishes it from other military ordinariates, but also from the military chaplaincy of the Wehrmacht.

John's basilica

Seat

The military ordinate has its seat in Berlin . Since February 1, 2005, the Johannes-Basilika (formerly the Catholic Garrison Church) in Berlin-Neukölln has been the episcopal church.

organization

The Catholic military ordinariate is divided into four deaneries:

67 priests released from the individual dioceses work for the 97 local parishes. They are not church officials, but according to a special relationship of federal civil servants for a period of time, regulated by the military chaplaincy contract with the Protestant Church, which is also applied to the Catholic Church , unless they are appointed for life, and carry the ranks of "military pastor" or "military dean" . Your civil servant disciplinary superior is the military vicar general; the military bishop himself is not a federal official. Under the direction of the Military Vicar General, the Catholic Military Bishop's Office simultaneously performs the ecclesiastical and state administrative tasks of military pastoral care. In 2013 Reinhold Bartmann was appointed to this position as successor to Walter Wakenhut .

Even if not officially required, priests who have served as military chaplains are mostly used, which is a specialty insofar as prospective priests are not obliged to do military service. The defense minister can only introduce uniforms for the military chaplains with the consent of the military bishop, which has not happened. In practice, the field suit as protective clothing , but officially not in uniform , takes on the role of service clothing, with the badge of the Catholic military chaplaincy taking the place of the rank badge.

Military bishops since 1868

No. Surname Office from to
1 Franz Adolf Namszanowski Titular Bishop of Agathopolis May 22, 1868 May 28, 1872
2 Johann Baptist Assmann Titular Bishop of Philadelphia in Lydia June 1, 1888 May 27, 1903
3 Heinrich Vollmar Titular Bishop of Pergamum November 9, 1903 1913
4th Heinrich Joeppen Titular Bishop of Cisamus October 27, 1913 November 9, 1918
5 Franz Justus Rarkowski Titular Bishop of Hierocaesarea January 7, 1938 February 1, 1945
6th Joseph Cardinal Wendel Archbishop of Munich and Freising 4th February 1956 December 31, 1960
7th Franz Hengsbach Bishop of Essen October 10, 1961 May 22, 1978
8th Elmar Maria Kredel Archbishop of Bamberg May 22, 1978 November 30, 1990
9 Johannes Dyba Bishop of Fulda November 30, 1990 July 23, 2000
10 Walter Mixa Bishop of Eichstätt (until 2005) and Augsburg (from 2005) August 31, 2000 May 8, 2010
11 Franz-Josef Overbeck Bishop of Essen February 24, 2011

If the episcopal chair becomes vacant, as was the case after the resignation of Bishop Walter Mixa, the vicar general of the Catholic military bishop, at that time Walter Wakenhut, takes over the management of the Catholic military chaplaincy in Germany, so there is no election as diocesan administrator . A new Catholic military bishop is appointed by the Holy See in accordance with the requirements of the Reich Concordat of 1933.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Archived copy ( memento of the original from April 8, 2018 in the Internet Archive ) 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.katholische-militaerseelsorge.de
  2. ↑ Papal statutes for the area of ​​jurisdiction of the Catholic military bishop for the German Federal Armed Forces, Art. 2 (PDF)
  3. ^ Military Vicar General , accessed February 10, 2014
  4. ↑ Conscription Act, Section 11, Paragraph 1, No. 2 and Section 12, Paragraph 2
  5. ↑ Art. 14, Paragraph 2, Clause 2 of the Papal Statutes
  6. ↑ Papal statutes Art. 10
  7. ↑ Papal statutes Art. 2