Franz Höfliger

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Franz Höfliger (born May 1, 1892 in Wilen TG ; † July 30, 1985 in Ingenbohl ) was a Swiss Roman Catholic priest . He built up several parishes in the canton of Zurich and was nicknamed the beggar prelate because of his intensive collecting activities for the Zurich diaspora and the missions .

Life

Franz Höfliger was the son of a shipper on Lake Zurich and grew up in Wollerau with two siblings and two foster children. He was taught by the Menzing sisters in elementary school and made the decision to become a priest at an early age. He first attended high school in Einsiedeln monastery . Because of his desire to become a missionary in Africa or Asia, he continued his school education in Lyon from 1909 , where he graduated with a high school diploma. Then in 1913 he joined the Institut des Missions Africaines of the Society of African Missions in Lyon. The outbreak of the First World War forced him to leave France, which is why he continued his studies at the St. Luzi seminary in Chur and was ordained a priest on July 18, 1915 by Chur Bishop Georg Schmid von Grüneck .

Between 1917 and 1920 Franz Höfliger was vicar in the parish Hl. Dreifaltigkeit Rüti , for which he helped to build the later parish of Liebfrauen in Hinwil . Mainly in the nearby, Catholic canton of St. Gallen, he collected the necessary money from begging sermons, so that on July 28, 1918, he was able to celebrate the first mass since the Reformation on Hinwil in an emergency church. From 1920 to 1923 he headed the mission secretariat in Immensee and contributed to the establishment of the Bethlehem Mission Society . In the years 1923 to 1932 Franz Höfliger undertook four extended mission trips to the USA to raise funds for the Immensee Mission House and the Diocese of Chur. For his services he received the honorary title of papal house prelate in 1932 and became honorary canon of the diocese of Chur.

Under Bishop Laurenz Matthias Vincenz, he worked as episcopal chancellor in Chur from 1932 to 1938 and in 1938 took over the management of the Stäfa mission station with the aim of establishing the parish there. Franz Höfliger managed to collect the money for the construction of the Church of St. Verena despite the difficult conditions resulting from the Second World War . After the church was consecrated in 1948 by Bishop Christian Caminada, Höfliger moved to Zurich to build the youngest parish in the city in the Schwamendingen workers' quarter . From 1949 to 1966, through his preaching activities throughout German-speaking Switzerland, he collected the money for the construction of the St. Gallus Church (Zurich-Schwamendingen) . For reasons of age, he withdrew from the parish of St. Gallus in 1966 and worked as a spiritual director in the St. Josef Hospital in Ingenbohl until his death.

Works

  • A call to a forgotten vital apostolate. Benziger, Einsiedeln 1923.
  • Our greatest and most sacred time task. Winfriedbund, Paderborn 1923.
  • Welcome brothers! A consideration of today's religious world situation. Winfriedbund, Paderborn 1923.
  • Our lady of Hinwil. The great helper in serious matters. Hinwil 1932.
  • Franz Höfliger among others: Auxiliary Bishop Dr. Antonius Gisler, Chur, 1863–1932: Leading theologian and ecclesiastical writer in the first quarter of the 20th century. St. Raphael, Altdorf 1974.

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b c Andreas Meyerhans: Höfliger, Franz. In: Historisches Lexikon der Schweiz . Retrieved September 17, 2017.
  2. ↑ Guido Kolb: Franz Höfliger the begging prelate , p. 222.
  3. ↑ Guido Kolb: Franz Höfliger the begging prelate. Pp. 9-47.
  4. ↑ Guido Kolb: Franz Höfliger the begging prelate , p. 213.
  5. ↑ Guido Kolb: Franz Höfliger the begging prelate. Pp. 150-208.
personal data
SURNAME Höfliger, Franz
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Swiss Roman Catholic priest
DATE OF BIRTH May 1, 1892
PLACE OF BIRTH Wilen TG
DATE OF DEATH July 30, 1985
Place of death Ingenbohl