Eckart courtier

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Eckart Höfling (2008)

Eckart Höfling OFM (born October 28, 1936 in Langenprozelten ; † March 1, 2014 in Frankfurt am Main ) was a German Franciscan who was particularly committed to the poor in Brazil .

Life

In 1949 Eckart Höfling graduated from commercial school in Würzburg , passed the examination to become a trainee judicial officer in 1952 and worked at the district office in Karlstadt . In 1957 Höfling joined the order of the Franciscans, through which he first came to Eupen and at the turn of the year 1959/1960 for the first time to Brazil in the Franciscan Province of the Immaculate Conception in São Paulo . After completing his university entrance qualification, studying philosophy and theology, Höfling was ordained a priest on December 10, 1966 by the Würzburg bishop Josef Stangl . He was a chaplain in a suburban parish and director of a Brazilian congregation of sisters, then pastor in Sao Paulo. In 1972 he became director of a college course in Franciscan spirituality and pastoral care in Petropolis .

From 1977 he built up the social welfare organization in Rio de Janeiro . He set up social centers in the favelas Vila Ideal and Prainha and organized regular health care for the residents of the slums. He was given significant support from the start by the non-profit Georg Ludwig Rexroth Foundation in Lohr am Main, which has provided over two million euros for the essential basis of the Franciscan Father's work in this project over the past 30 years. A religious hospital as well as kindergartens and social stations in the slums of Rio and the surrounding area belonged to the social work. He also founded the port school with grammar school. 1986 followed the establishment of the social welfare work in São Paulo.

In 1987 Eckart Höfling took over the management of the bankrupt social work of the Franciscan Third Order in Rio de Janeiro on behalf of his order province and the Archbishop of Rio, Eugênio Cardinal de Araújo Sales .

He retired in March 2011 due to health problems.

Honors

In 2007, Father Eckart Höfling was honored by Federal President Horst Köhler for his work with the Federal Cross of Merit on the ribbon of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany . Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier awarded him the Quadriga Prize in 2008 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Georg Ludwig Rexroth Foundation: The Vila Ideal and Prainha projects in Rio de Janeiro / Brazil
  2. ^ Father Eckart Höfling died at the age of 77 , Main Post, March 2, 2014
  3. ^ "God is our Libero" , Bunte, October 15, 2008
personal data
SURNAME Courtier, Eckart
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Courtier, Father Eckart OFM
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German Roman Catholic religious
DATE OF BIRTH October 28, 1936
PLACE OF BIRTH Langenprozelten , Lower Franconia
DATE OF DEATH March 1, 2014
Place of death Frankfurt am Main