Dietrich Becker (priest)

Cathedral Chapter Dietrich Becker

Tombstone of Cathedral Chapter Dietrich Becker, Speyer Old Cemetery , Cathedral Chapter Cemetery .

Contemporary title page of a publication by Dr. Dietrich Becker

Dietrich Becker (born November 29, 1830 in Niedergailbach , Saarpfalz , † January 31, 1879 in Speyer ) was a priest of the Speyer diocese , doctor of philosophy, director of the Episcopal Konviktes St. Ludwig , Speyer city and cathedral pastor and cathedral chapter . In his time he was considered one of the dominant speakers and preachers in the diocese and was active as a theological writer.

Life

Early work

Becker was born in Niedergailbach in the Saar-Palatinate (today Gersheim ). The priestly writer Joseph Eduard Konrad Bischoff , alias "Conrad von Bolanden" , who is almost the same age, comes from there . Dietrich Becker studied in Munich a. a. with Professor Daniel Bonifatius Haneberg , who was to become his bishop one day. On August 20, 1855 he was awarded the Speyer Cathedral by Bishop Nicholas of Weis the priesthood and was transferred on 10 September as a chaplain to Neustadt. From here he was appointed as prefect of the episcopal Konvikt St. Ludwig, Speyer (church boarding school) on March 17, 1856 , on March 31, 1857 he was promoted to the responsible position of Konvikt director; so he was now the “boss” of the house. The priest remained in this capacity for more than 10 years. In addition, he taught history at the seminary and religious and moral philosophy at the royal Lyceum in Speyer. Becker gave sustained support to his Konvikts student Jakob Rebmann , a half-orphan who later became a Jesuit priest and rector of the university in Spokane USA. Rebmann described Dietrich Becker in his memoirs as a “learned and holy priest”, as well as a benefactor and spiritual advisor to his mother.

Canon in Speyer

Dietrich Becker had a doctorate in philosophy and on September 28, 1867, under Bishop Nikolaus von Weis, became canon as the successor to the late canon Anton Spiehler . On August 7, 1868, Becker received the office of cathedral and city pastor of Speyer. Franz Xaver Remling states :

“ On August 8, 1867, a repeated stroke called the Cathedral Chapter Spiehler from this temporality. At the special intercession of the most blessed bishop, the director of the episcopal convict, Dr. Dietrich Becker, unanimously chosen in his place by the cathedral chapter on September 28th of the same year and canonically instituted on December 11th. Since the previous cathedral pastor Köstler resigned from this office, the youngest capitular was elected by the cathedral chapter in his place as pastor of the cathedral parish on August 7, 1868. "

- Franz Xaver Remling, biography of Nikolaus von Weis, volume 2, page 392

When Bishop von Weis died in 1869, Dietrich Becker gave him his funeral speech in the cathedral on December 15, and he was also considered one of the successor candidates in the press - alongside cathedral capitular Wilhelm Molitor . For example, the “Bayerische Landeszeitung” in Zweibrücken wrote on January 6, 1870: “That Dr. Becker is known to have hopes for the bishopric, but many doubt whether he has the necessary tolerance, gentleness and true patriotism ... " . Konrad Reither became Bishop of Speyer on April 29, 1870, but he died on April 4, 1871. He was succeeded as Speyer Bishop on May 16, 1872 by the Benedictine Abbot Daniel Bonifatius von Haneberg , Becker's former professor from Munich . In a biography of Bishop von Haneberg, Dietrich Becker is characterized as follows:

“ Cathedral and town pastor Becker was an astute, witty, eloquent personality who towered above everything in her demeanor and had therefore played an undisputed leading role in public for years. "

- A. Huth, Daniel Bonifatius von Haneberg, Speyer, 1927, page 347

In the Palatinate, Becker was a major initiator of the so-called Catholic “walking assemblies”, which could be described as regional Catholic meetings and at which the resolutions of the First Vatican Council (e.g. infallibility dogma ) were discussed and brought closer to the people, as these heavily attacked in the press and, in the opinion of the Catholic Church, mostly depicted in a distorted manner. At that time, Dr. Becker also more often as a speaker at the German Catholic Days. When cholera raged in Speyer in the summer of 1873 and claimed 158 lives, Dompfarrer Becker, along with his chaplains Konrad Busch (later bishop) and Friedrich Molz, was one of the most zealous carers for the sick. Bishop Haneberg died on May 31, 1876 and his former pupil, Cathedral Pastor Dietrich Becker, gave him the funeral sermon on June 2 - in the presence of Bishop Wilhelm Emmanuel von Ketteler , Bishop Franz Leopold von Leonrod from Eichstätt and Benedictine Abbot Benedikt Zenetti from Munich. It appeared in print and forms a separate chapter in A. Huth's Haneberg biography. The final passage read:

“ And now you high cathedral of Speyer, in which so many emperors and church princes find their final rest, be a peaceful grave for your bishop, who can no longer offer the holy sacrifice in you. Draw your high arches over his undisturbed resting place until on last day his body will rise again and we will move with him into the transfiguration. "

- Dr. Dietrich Becker, funeral sermon for Bishop Haneberg, 1876

According to Jakob Bisson , "7 Speyer Bishops and Your Time" , Wilhelm Redelberger, the oldest priest of the Speyer diocese (1853-1949), was able to freely quote this particularly impressive section as early as 1945. Bisson further reports in his book:

" When the funeral orator on the cathedral pulpit, sketching a lively picture of the deceased, spoke the words: 'The bishops of Bavaria are shaken by the void that his parting left among them, whose high wisdom, whose brilliant virtues were their pride and their crown, The church buries with him one of its most enlightened and pious bishops, his loss is quite inexpressible for us, 'when tears rolled from the eyes of Bishop Ketteler of Mainz, who was seated under the pulpit and who could not refuse to say these words by repeatedly nodding with the head to give his consent. "

- Jakob Bisson, “7 Speyer bishops and their time”, Speyer 1956.

The funeral ceremonies for Bishop Haneberg and the sermon delivered by Cathedral Chapter Dietrich Becker are among his last major appearances. Soon afterwards he fell ill with a brain tumor, which eventually made it more and more impossible for him to actively exercise his office. Still, the end came as a surprise. Cathedral Vicar Jakob Baumann reports in his biography of Haneberg's successor, Bishop Georg von Ehrler , that Cathedral Chapter Becker was found dead in bed on January 31, 1879, after two years of brain disease, at 7 a.m. The death was in the form of a stroke that ended the long-term infirmity, but it came as a surprise, since Becker had "cheerfully inquired about the weather 1/4 hour beforehand ."

Dietrich Becker, who was also a member of the district administrator of the Palatinate for several years , was buried in the old Speyer cemetery; the grave is located in the cathedral chapter cemetery there (separated from it) near St. Bernhard. The tombstone with a relief of Christ (Good Shepherd) is still preserved, but the inscription is already badly weathered.

Works by Dietrich Becker

• Eduard Steinle 's more recent works of art - 1859
• The Congregation of the Index - 1862
• The freedom and the right of modern philosophy, according to the lecture recently published by Prof. Frohschammer - 1863
• Main points of Frohschammer 's philosophy - 1863
• Funeral oration in memory of His Majesty the King Maximilian II - 1864
• The Church and Natural Research - 1865
• Funeral sermon in memory of Bishop Nikolaus von Weis - 1869; Complete scan of the sermon published in print
• Funeral sermon in memory of Bishop Daniel Bonifatius von Haneberg - 1876

literature

• " Nikolaus von Weis , Bishop of Speyer" , Franz Xaver Remling , Verlag Ferdinand Kleeberger, Speyer, 1871, volume 2, page 392.
• " Konrad Reither , Bishop of Speyer" . Franz Xaver Remling, manuscript left behind, ed. v. Jakob Baumann, Speyer 1910.
• " Daniel Bonifatius Haneberg , Bishop of Speyer" , A. Huth, Verlag Dr. Jägersche Buchhandlung, Speyer, 1927 (Becker's funeral sermon as a separate chapter).
• " Georg von Ehrler , Bishop of Speyer" , Jakob Baumann, Herder Verlag Freiburg, 1911, pages 81 u. 82.
• "Seven Speyer bishops and their time" , Dr. Jakob Bisson , Pilger Verlag. Speyer 1956, own chapter on Dietrich Becker, pp. 110–112 a. in other places.
• "Church history of the Palatinate, Volume IV" , Ludwig Stamer, Pilger-Verlag, Speyer, 1964, p. 264 u. 291
• “The canons since the re-establishment of the Speyer diocese, in 1817” , Guido Nonn, Speyer Diocesan Archive, 1981, page 35

Web links

• Dietrich Becker on "Saarland Biographies"
• Dietrich Becker, "Plato's philosophical system in its relationship to Christian dogma" , Freiburg, 1862, completely scanned brochure.
• Dietrich Becker, "Illumination of Professor Frohschammer's lecture on the law of modern philosophy vis-à-vis scholasticism" , Munich 1863; completely scanned brochure.
• Dietrich Becker, "The freedom and law of modern philosophy, based on the recently published lecture by Prof. Frohschammer" , Speyer 1863; completely scanned brochure.
• Dietrich Becker, "Die Kirche und die Naturforschung" , Mainz 1865, completely scanned brochure.