Franz Josef Wothe

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Franz Josef Wothe (around 1975)

Franz Josef Wothe (born October 21, 1910 in Bottrop ; † August 27, 1994 in Hildesheim ) was a Catholic priest of the Diocese of Danzig and, after the war, an apostolic visitor for the expelled Danzig Catholics. He was a professor at the Hildesheim seminary and author of numerous spiritual and biographical publications.

Life

Franz Josef Wothe graduated from high school in Cologne in 1930 , was diocesan leader of the Kolping Wandering Journeyman (KWG) group and association secretary of the Catholic Journeyman's Association in the Rottenburg diocese from 1932, and then studied philosophy and Catholic theology in Cologne, Bonn , Tübingen and Munich . In 1937 he earned his doctorate ( Dr. phil. ) With a thesis on Adolph Kolping as a family educator . He then placed himself in the service of the young diocese of Danzig and was ordained a priest on March 9, 1940 by Bishop Carl Maria Splett in Oliva Cathedral. He became vicar at St. Nikolai in Danzig and in 1941 parish administrator , in 1943 pastor at the Herz-Jesu-Kirche in Danzig-Langfuhr . At the same time he was a student chaplain at the Technical University .

After the end of the war and expulsion, Wothe first went to Menden (Sauerland) in the Archdiocese of Paderborn , then back to Cologne. He immediately tried to collect the Gdańsk Catholics - in 1947 the youth meeting at Gemen Castle - and in addition to maintaining tradition, he also set a tone of reconciliation early on (“Gemener message”). In 1947 he was elected General Secretary of the International Kolping Society . In 1949 the Bishop of Münster called him to his diocese and entrusted him with social and educational tasks. In 1952 he co-founded the Central Office of Danzig Catholics in Münster . When Bishop Splett came to Germany in 1958 after imprisonment and internment, he appointed Wothe as consistorial councilor for the diocese of Danzig. From 1957 to 1960 he worked as a religion teacher at the Adolfinum grammar school in Moers. 1961 called Bishop Heinrich Maria Janssen Wothe to Hildesheim . There he worked as a professor of pastoral theology at the seminary and took on tasks in diocesan educational work. He published numerous books and magazine articles. In 1965 he received the title of Papal Secret Chamberlain , and after the death of the Apostolic Visitor Anton Behrendt in 1968, Franz Josef Wothe succeeded him. His motto was Opera mea Regi (“My works for the king”, Ps 45.2  EU , Vulgate ). He held the office until his retirement in 1985. After that, too, he campaigned for bridges with Poland .

In retirement, Wothe made the preservation of the Marienkapelle in Söder and the enlivening of the pilgrimage his heart's concern.

Fonts

  • Catholicism today . Goettingen 1974.
  • Church in the Synod . Hildesheim 1968.
  • Men speak to God . Kevelaer 1968.
  • Word wisdom and world truth . On the 100th anniversary of Adolf Kolping's death, ed. on behalf of the International Kolping Society, Kolping-Verlag Cologne 1965.
  • Carl Maria Splett, Bishop of Gdansk . Hildesheim 1965.
  • That time is here and now . Munich 1964.
  • Spiritual Notes . Hildesheim 1962.
  • Wilhelm Maxen . Hildesheim 1962.
  • The church funeral . Kevelaer 1960.
  • Kevelaer . Kevelaer 1960.
  • Carl Mosterts - a life for the youth . Kevelaer 1959.
  • Do our organizations have a future? Recklinghausen 1958.
  • A great sign in the sky . Recklinghausen 1954.
  • Father Kolping . Cologne 1953.
  • The Church on the move in Germany. Collected essays (ed.), Bergisch Gladbach 1934.

literature

  • Stefan Samerski: Franz Josef Wothe (1910–1994) . In the S. (Ed.): The diocese of Danzig in life pictures . Münster 2003, pp. 145–148 ( digitized version )
  • Sabine Vosskamp: Catholic Church and Expellees in West Germany . Stuttgart 2007; biographical note on FJ Wothe on p. 131

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Heinz-Albert Raem: Catholic journeymen's association and German Kolping family in the time of National Socialism. Mainz 1982, p. 96, note 59.
  2. ↑ Coat of arms with motto on the plaque for the Danzig martyrs in Söder.
personal data
SURNAME Wothe, Franz Josef
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German Catholic priest and author
DATE OF BIRTH October 21, 1910
PLACE OF BIRTH Bottrop
DATE OF DEATH August 27, 1994
Place of death Hildesheim