Franz King

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Cardinal Franz König, Archbishop of Vienna
Franz King's cardinal coat of arms

Franz Cardinal König (born August 3, 1905 in Warth near Rabenstein , † March 13, 2004 in Vienna ) was Archbishop of Vienna from 1956 to 1985 .

Life

Franz König came from a farming family in Rabenstein an der Pielach in Lower Austria , his mother was Maria König and his stepfather Johann Kaiser . He was baptized in the parish church of Rabenstein an der Pielach . He attended the Stiftsgymnasium Melk . He studied in Vienna and then in Rome , where he became a doctor of philosophy . On 27 October 1933 he received in Rome by the archpriest of the Lateran Basilica , Cardinal Francesco Marchetti Selvaggiani the priesthood .

From 1934 to 1937 he worked in his home diocese as a chaplain in Altpölla, Neuhofen an der Ybbs, St. Valentin and Scheibbs in practical pastoral care at the grassroots level. During this time he also completed his theological studies and was awarded a Dr. theol. PhD . During the Nazi period he was cathedral curator in Sankt Pölten, and in 1945 he was a professor of religion in Krems . In 1948 he was appointed associate professor for moral theology at the Catholic theological faculty of the University of Salzburg for four years . During his time in Salzburg, König taught English at the archbishop's private grammar school Borromäum .

On July 3, 1952, Pope Pius XII appointed King as titular bishop of Livias and coadjutor bishop in St. Pölten . On August 31, 1952, Diocesan Bishop Michael Memelauer donated him the episcopal ordination in St. Pölten Cathedral ; Co-consecrators were Auxiliary Bishop Leo Pietsch von Graz-Seckau and the then Coadjutor Bishop of Linz, Franz Sales Zauner . In September 1953, Franz König, at that time family adviser to the Austrian Bishops' Conference , founded the Catholic Family Association of Austria (KFÖ) on his initiative and under his patronage .

In 1956, Pius XII finally became king . appointed Archbishop of Vienna to succeed Theodor Innitzer (1875–1955) instead of the Vienna coadjutor archbishop Franz Jachym . He headed the diocese for almost three decades, from June 17, 1956 to September 16, 1985. On August 4, 1957, Archbishop Franz König in Vienna was invested as a Grand Crusader in the Order of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem . On December 15, 1958, Pope John XXIII took him . as a cardinal priest with the titular church Sant'Eusebio in the college of cardinals .

On February 21, 1959, Pope John XXIII became king. appointed by decree as the first military vicar ( Vicarius castrensis ) of the Second Republic. A particular concern of König was the pastoral care of the army hospital in Stammersdorf in Vienna. Furthermore, the king tried to get Catholic and Protestant Christians working together in the military service . In 1968, King Pope Paul VI asked . to remove him from this office because of excessive workload; this resignation was granted in 1969.

On February 13, 1960, König was involved in a serious traffic accident on the way to Zagreb . In the hospital he saw this as a sign to try to get in touch with the Eastern Churches . As a result, he became one of the most important pioneers of ecumenism , especially with regard to Orthodoxy .

From 1962 to 1965 he took part in the Second Vatican Council , which he had previously prepared significantly. King was seen as a moderate representative of the reform wing, his theological advisor he had chosen at the council was the Jesuit Karl Rahner . When Pope John XXIII. died in 1963, King was considered a papabile . However, the Archbishop of Milan Giambattista Montini was elected in the conclave . As a result, from 1965 to 1981, König assumed the chairmanship of the papal secretariat for non-believers .

Because he made a significant contribution to reconciliation between social democracy and the church in Austria , he was sometimes called "the red cardinal". In 1968, König was made an honorary citizen of Vienna ; he has also been awarded numerous honorary doctorates .

After his election in August 1978, Pope John Paul I is said to have said to König: “Actually, you should be in my position now.” Cardinal König himself confirmed in a television interview that he had contributed to the 1978 Krakauer who was well known to him Cardinal Wojtyła (who called himself Pope John Paul II) was elected Pope .

Franz Cardinal König with Pastor P. Carlo Mondini OMV, and two refugee children during his visit to the parish church "Zum Guten Hirten" , Vienna-Hietzing, April 17, 1994
Cardinal Franz König at a soccer game with youngsters from the parish "Zum Guten Hirten", Vienna-Hietzing, April 17, 1994

As President of the international Catholic peace movement Pax Christi , in May 1988 in Kevelaer , König called for people to take the initiatives of the then Soviet President Gorbachev seriously.

König headed the Archdiocese of Vienna until he was 80. After that, he dedicated himself on September 14, 1986 Benedictine Hans Hermann Groër as his successor as Archbishop of Vienna, in a very from March 1995 Austria shattering swamp of allegations of sexual abuse of children and young people came. On April 13, 1995, Groër Christoph Schönborn was appointed coadjutor archbishop with the right of succession and, with effect from September 14, 1995, Groër accepted a resignation due to age reasons in October 1994 - before the "Groër affair". Schönborn, Dominican and until 1995 professor of dogmatics , was ordained a priest by König himself on December 27, 1970 in Vienna.

Between 1985 and 1990, König was one of the masterminds for the European Academy of Sciences and Arts , which was founded in Salzburg in 1990.

Cardinal König was famous for his speeches, including a. at the sea ​​of ​​lights on January 23, 1993 and annually in the Ruprechtskirche in memory of the Reichspogromnacht . In 1998, König gave the opening speech at the Salzburg Festival with the title “Europe needs a new spiritual face”.

He was held in high regard internationally. On February 13, 2002, he was able to celebrate his golden jubilee as a bishop.

On March 13, 2004, Franz König died at around 3 a.m. At the age of 98, at the time of his death , he was the second oldest cardinal after the Italian Corrado Bafile (100), the former nuncio in Germany. At the same time he was the last still living of Pope John XXIII. created cardinal. At his funeral in St. Stephen's Cathedral in Vienna on March 27, 2004, 13 cardinals and 60 bishops were present. Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, who later became Pope Benedict XVI, attended the celebrations . , in front. Cardinal Christoph Schönborn preached, Federal President Thomas Klestil , Bishop Herwig Sturm , Metropolitan Michael Staikos gave speeches, an ensemble of the Vienna Philharmonic played.

Apostolic succession

The succession line of Cardinal König follows the line of Cardinal Scipione Rebiba . The line is named after the earliest known main consecrator that stands at the beginning of the line.

honors and awards

Monument in Kottingbrunn in Lower Austria
Memorial plaque on the Gumpendorfer parish church

Recognition and criticism

Although Cardinal König enjoyed almost general recognition and esteem from the Church and society, especially in old age, he was occasionally criticized for various positions and decisions. These include u. a. his consistently pursued rapprochement with the SPÖ (which earned him the nickname "red cardinal"), the withdrawal of his teaching license and the later suspension of Adolf Holl , his promotion of Opus Dei , which was seen as a relativization of the papal teaching position in the encyclical Humanae vitae Paul VI . perceived " Mariatroster Declaration ", the dialogue with Freemasonry - which led to the so-called Lichtenau Declaration - and the King's role in the Vatican's Ostpolitik .

Foundations

Cardinal König was the founder of a foundation Communio et Progressio - New Hope for the Danube Region , which has been awarding the Cardinal König Prize since 1991 . The prize is awarded to personalities who have contributed to the cross-cutting collaboration between science, religion, business and the media to tackle global problems in the field of freedom of expression and conscience, justice, peace, the integrity of creation and general development human company. The last winner in 2007 was the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, Bartholomew I, Primate of Orthodoxy, in recognition of his services to ecumenism, religious peace and his initiatives for the preservation of creation.

In 1964, Cardinal König donated the honorary badge of St. Stephanus , which can be bestowed on laypeople by the respective Archbishop of Vienna for special services.

Works (selection)

  • Pontiff. Univ. Gregoriana. The Amesha Spentas of the Awesta and the Archangels in the Old Testament. A study of the history of religion. Wedl Verlag, Melk 1935.
  • Christ and the religions of the earth. 3 volumes. Herder, Vienna 1951.
  • Balance sheet of the council. Catholic Educational Organization of the Archdiocese of Vienna, Vienna 1966.
  • The departure to the spirit. Styria, Graz et al. 1972, ISBN 3-222-10723-8 .
  • The Spirit of God and Politics. In: Decision , Volume 20, 1975, pages 204–206.
  • My second way to Christ. Hopes in dealing with young people . In: Enschluss , 1984, issue 4, page 17.
  • Felix Unger and Franz Cardinal König (eds.): And we still have a future. Man and nature on the threshold of the 3rd millennium. Herder Verlag, Freiburg / Basel / Vienna 1990. ISBN 3-451-21800-3 .
  • Franz König, Hans Waldenfels (Ed.): Lexicon of Religions. Herder, Freiburg / Basel / Vienna 1999, ISBN 3-451-04090-5 .

Literature (selection)

Movie

In 2010, Andreas Gruber shot a docudrama about König, partly on original locations. In The Cardinal , King von August Zirner is portrayed. The docudrama is a co-production by Tellux-Film , ORF , Autentic and the Federal Ministry for Education, Art and Culture , funded by the Austrian TV Fund , Lower Austria Culture , the Vienna Film Fund and the Katholisches Filmwerk.

Web links

Commons : Franz König  - Collection of images, videos and audio files
Wikiquote: Franz König  - Quotes

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Church leaders of the Rabenstein parish
  2. ↑ where he is a member of the Catholic student union K.Ö.St.V. Rudolfina Vienna in ACA was
  3. ^ Religion.orf.at: Biography: Cardinal Franz König - the conscience of Austria. Retrieved June 27, 2010.
  4. ↑ Cardinal Dr. King in Yugoslavia had a serious accident in the Arbeiter-Zeitung on February 14, 1960, accessed on January 23, 2011
  5. ↑ Die Presse : Cardinal König: Diplomat in God's Service , July 18, 2009.
  6. ↑ Frankfurter Allgemeine: "Perhaps there is even one in Poland ..." , October 15, 2003
  7. ↑ EuropAcad → about the academy → history → founding member Franz Cardinal König
  8. ^ Entry on Franz König on catholic-hierarchy.org
  9. ↑ a b c Awards for Franz Cardinal König in the Vienna History Wiki of the City of Vienna
  10. ^ Award of the Mérite européen to His Eminence Cardinal Franz König, Emeritus Archbishop of Vienna . Retrieved March 13, 2017.
  11. ↑ Kardinal-König-Platz in the Vienna History Wiki of the City of Vienna
  12. ↑ Dates on March 13th In: Rathauskorrespondenz from March 12th 2015, accessed on March 13th 2017.
  13. ↑ University of Vienna names the lecture hall after Cardinal Franz König. In: Tyrolean daily newspaper . September 17, 2019, accessed September 18, 2019 .
  14. ↑ University of Vienna names the lecture hall after Cardinal König. In: Kathpress . September 17, 2019, accessed September 18, 2019 .
  15. ↑ Cardinal König Archive: Detailed curriculum vitae of Cardinal Dr. Franz King
  16. ↑ Decoration of Honor from St. Stephen
  17. ↑ http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/59478944 Rom, theol. Dissertation (excerpt, GIF format)
predecessor Office successor
Paul-Émile Léger PSS Cardinal Protopriest
1991-2004 		Stephen Kim Sou-hwan
Andreas Rohracher Chairman of the Austrian Bishops' Conference
1959–1985 		Karl Berg
personal data
SURNAME King, Franz
ALTERNATIVE NAMES King, Franz Cardinal (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Austrian cardinal and archbishop
DATE OF BIRTH August 3, 1905
PLACE OF BIRTH Warth near Rabenstein , Austria
DATE OF DEATH March 13, 2004
Place of death Vienna