Franz Pitzal

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Franz Pitzal (born February 21, 1936 in Iglau , Moravia ) is a German Catholic parish priest and author of Christian books.

Life

In 1946, at the age of nine, Franz Pitzal came as a displaced person from the Sudetenland to Leinzell in the Ostalbkreis , Baden-Württemberg . After graduating from primary school, he learned the profession of watchmaker in Schwäbisch Gmünd . After his apprenticeship, he was responsible for the youth of the entire diocese as youth officer for the Rottenburg diocese in the Wernau Episcopal Youth Welfare Office .

In the late career seminar Collegium Ambrosianum in Bad Cannstatt he passed the Abitur and then studied from 1965 at the Catholic-Theological Faculty of the Eberhard-Karls-University in Tübingen , while Joseph Ratzinger, who later became Pope Benedict XVI. , as well as Hans Küng held chairs there. As a theologian spokesman, Pitzal had a lot to do with Ratzinger, to whom he felt closer than Küng ("We preferred to go to Ratzinger, the Küng was too strict for us"). He finally completed his theology studies in Munich . After completing his studies, he was a deacon in Kornwestheim . On July 3, 1971, he was ordained a priest by Bishop Carl Joseph Leiprecht in Aalen . This was followed by two years as vicar in Kornwestheim, until he finally came to Renningen in 1973 , where he has been the parish pastor for over 40 years, initially for the parishes of St. Bonifatius Renningen and St. Martinus Malmsheim, and later in the pastoral team for the extended pastoral care unit CleBoRa is responsible for the parishes of St. C lemens Maria Hofbauer Weissach and St. Raphael Rutesheim .

He celebrated his 40th anniversary as a priest in July 2011 in Leinzell. Erwin Teufel , former Prime Minister, came to the celebration . D., with whom Pitzal has been friends for over fifty years. Pitzal put the anniversary service under the motto "40 years of priests in today's world" and designed the sanctuary with collages depicting the problem areas of terrorism, crime, AIDS, drugs, the Internet, computers and dissatisfaction. By his own admission he is a practitioner, not a scientist, and "does not always take the teachings of the Catholic Church so seriously."

Honors

In 1996 Pitzal was awarded the Federal Cross of Merit . In 2008 he received the Staufer Medal from the Prime Minister of Baden-Württemberg . In 2010 he was awarded the One World Prize Baden-Württemberg for his life's work. In the laudatory speech given by Minister of Economic Affairs Ernst Pfister , it was said that Pitzal had been campaigning for the weakest in society for over 40 years in order to make it easier for them to find their way into a self-determined life. He is particularly interested in the children of this world. “The basis of the supported projects is the very important principle of helping people to help themselves, which is intended to ensure the sustainability and long-term autonomy of the projects.” In 2014, Pitzal was presented with the Böblingen District Medal of Merit. In November 2017, he and the peace activist Eugen Drewermann and the journalist Franz Alt received the Lionheart Prize from the Human Projects Foundation. Mikhail Gorbachev was presented with the award in Moscow.

Act

author

Pitzal wrote several theological and religious writings and non-fiction books since the 1980s. For decades he has maintained contacts within his aid projects and his work with people in 100 countries around the world. How these contacts and aid measures are realized in some of these countries, he tells in his book How from Crises Actions Arise .

Humanitarian aid projects

Since the 1970s, Pitzal has implemented direct humanitarian aid projects in 100 countries around the world together with his parish and the citizens of Renningen and Malmsheim. The Kosovo had helped the 101st country where Pitzal and his church members. He raised four million Deutschmarks and two million euros (as of 2016) for worldwide projects. Pitzal was always convinced personally and often on site that the donated money was going to meaningful projects. He visited over 70 countries where he supported or initiated projects. He and the donors help in the South American rainforest, in Costa Rica , where he supports a children's home, in Burundi , where he traveled in the 1980s with the then young CDU MP Günther Oettinger , with whom he is still friends. Pitzal also visited Mother Teresa in Calcutta , India , sometimes accompanied by delegations from his parish, or also crisis areas such as Iraq in 2017 , where he met Pastor Jacques Murad, who was captured by IS . Also in 2017 he visited the Patriarch of the Melctic Greek Catholic Church of Damascus , Gregorios III. , whom he invited to Renningen for an exchange, including on the refugee problem and the civil war in Syria . In the same year Pitzal organized the help for a school and well construction in Madagascar and the building of a school in Railaco ( East Timor ).

Crib in Malmsheim

Nativity scene exhibition

In the 1940s, Pitzal gave himself a crib with the money he had earned as a boy. He had nativity figures carved by an old man in his home village and collected roots and wood to build his first nativity scene. The figures by the carver Franz Lang served Pitzal from 1980 as a template for the basis of a Christmas crib in his parish, which has been visited by more than 70,000 visitors every year since then.

Six hundred of the up to 50 centimeter high figures by the artist Hildegard Buchhalter, who has since died at the age of 91, design the crib, as do gifts from 70 countries around the world that have expanded Pitzal's crib over the years. The nativity scene builders around Pitzal create true-to-life replicas of historical buildings such as the Stuttgart Castle , the Berlin Memorial Church , the Cologne Cathedral , St. Peter's Basilica and buildings from other continents such as the Taj Mahal and the Golden Gate Bridge . The motto of the crib changes every year. The exhibition can be seen until February.

The proceeds from the donations from the crèche visitors go to the humanitarian aid projects of the parish. The crib is known far beyond Baden-Württemberg. Prime Minister Winfried Kretschmann visited them, as did Marc Marshall and his father Tony Marshall , who has been friends with Pitzal for many years and sings every year at the Christmas service on December 25th, Gerhard Raff and Michael Broch , ZDF deputy editor Elmar Theveßen , ex- Daimler board member Matthias Kleinert and the EU Commissioner Günther Oettinger. The crib is in the Renningen district of Malmsheim in the local St. Martinus Church. Up to 190 tours of the nativity scene take place every year, some of which Pitzal accompanies himself. A special exhibition of the Pitzal crib took place in the German Hat Museum in Lindenberg in the Allgäu .

Pitzal founded the Franz Pitzal Foundation eV as part of the nativity scene exhibition. The purpose of the foundation is to maintain the Renninger crèche and to “support people all over the world through the crèche”. In recent years alone, projects have been funded in Cameroon (water project, 2011), Mongolia (school facility, 2011), Eritrea (drinking water, 2013) and Kazakhstan (children's village, 2013). In the meantime, a crib museum has been set up in Renningen.

Quotes

  • "I wanted to be with people, the parish profession was ideal for that"
  • "We get less and less together in our society."
  • "All I've done is to stand by everyone's side, to show human closeness." (Pitzal about his aid projects)
  • "He does not wait until people come to him in church, he goes out to the people." (Mayor Faißt, Renningen, via Pitzal)
  • "It's great how everyone likes and loves you." (Günther Oettinger about Pitzal on the occasion of the award of honorary citizenship)
  • "Then a man came swinging over to us on a vine, cheering loudly. That was of course our pastor Pitzal. "(Reminder of a Renninger citizen of a trip to the rainforest, Costa Rica)
  • "We have to feel that we need one another, that it is worth taking responsibility for one another."
  • “Franz tries to help everywhere. I am very proud to be one of his friends. "(Tony Marshall on Franz Pitzal)

Awards

  • Honorary citizenship of the city of Renningen
  • Federal Cross of Merit
  • Staufer Medal
  • One World Prize Baden-Württemberg
  • Medal of Merit of the Boeblingen district
  • Lionheart Prize

Publications

  • 1980: The star shines for everyone
  • 1983: World in the Church, Church in the World. New ways for a pictorial proclamation , Süddeutsche Verlagsgesellschaft, ISBN 3882940271
  • 1986: Confirmation , Verlag Friedrich Pustet, Regensburg, ISBN 3791709097
  • 1989: Advent - time of preparation. Help and suggestions , Verlag Friedrich Pustet, Regensburg, ISBN 379171211X
  • 1990: experience. Students on hope, freedom, peace , self-published by Pitzal
  • 1991: Women's church services: women make church history , self-published by Pitzal
  • 1992: The celebration of First Communion , Verlag Friedrich Pustet, Regensburg, ISBN 3791711490
  • 1993: With corrugated wood, frying pan and spaetzle machine - suggestions also for church services without priests, Pitzal publisher
  • 1993: The celebration of the suffering and the resurrection of the Lord , Verlag Friedrich Pustet, Regensburg, ISBN 3791710087
  • 1995: The fruit of the earth and human labor , Verlag Friedrich Pustet, Regensburg ISBN 3791711687
  • 1995: On the trail of life , self-published by Pitzal
  • 1995: What carol singers experience , self-published by Pitzal
  • 1996: He will turn the dark into light, Matthias-Grünewald-Verlag, ISBN 3786719403
  • 1997: The celebration of First Communion , Verlag Friedrich Pustet, Regensburg, ISBN 3791711490
  • 1997: Filled with the spirit - pictures and thoughts on the Renninger and Malmsheimer nativity scene , self-published by Pitzal
  • 2000: It happened 2000 years ago. Creations from 20 centuries. Nativity scene Renningen , self-published by the Catholic parish of St. Bonifatius Renningen
  • 2009: Living with dignity , self-published by Pitzal
  • 2010: To the Earth's Limits? , Self-published by Pitzal
  • 2012: It happened at the time when ... - Crèche in Malmsheim , self-published by Pitzal
  • 2016: Martinus - His life depicted with figures , Kunstverlag Josef Fink, Lindenberg
  • 2017: Renninger Nativity Scene - 38 years of current affairs , Kunstverlag Josef Fink, Lindenberg
  • 2017: How crises lead to actions , Kunstverlag Josef Fink, Lindenberg, ISBN 3959761120

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Stuttgarter Zeitung, Stuttgart, Germany: Renningen: One who likes to be with people . In: stuttgarter-zeitung.de . ( stuttgarter-zeitung.de [accessed April 20, 2018]).
  2. ↑ Franz Pitzal for 40 years a priest . In: remszeitung.de . June 29, 2011 ( remszeitung.de [accessed April 20, 2018]).
  3. ↑ CleBoRa - Who we are - Pastoral care unit CleBoRa Weissach, Renningen, Rutesheim. Retrieved April 20, 2018 .
  4. ↑ Franz Pitzal for 40 years a priest . In: remszeitung.de . June 29, 2011 ( remszeitung.de [accessed April 20, 2018]).
  5. ↑ Staufermedaille for priest Franz Pitzal . ( baden-wuerttemberg.de [accessed April 20, 2018]).
  6. ↑ One World Prize Baden-Württemberg 2010 awarded . ( baden-wuerttemberg.de [accessed on April 21, 2018]).
  7. ↑ District of Böblingen - Medal of Merit. Retrieved April 21, 2018 .
  8. ^ Lionheart Prizes awarded at a gala in Leonberg City Hall . In: moritz.de -> Events, concerts, parties, pictures . November 13, 2017 ( moritz.de [accessed April 21, 2018]).
  9. ↑ The Lion 2017 - Humanprojects . In: Humanprojects . ( humanprojects.de [accessed on April 21, 2018]).
  10. ^ Röhm Verlag und Medien GmbH & Co. KG: "How crises lead to actions" . November 30, 2017 ( bbheute.de [accessed April 20, 2018]).
  11. ↑ Kreiszeitung Böblinger Bote: Catholics in Renningen have already helped 100 countries worldwide. Retrieved April 20, 2018 .
  12. ↑ Kreiszeitung Böblinger Bote: In the footsteps of Mother Theresa. Retrieved April 20, 2018 .
  13. ^ A b Stuttgarter Nachrichten, Stuttgart, Germany: Renningen: How Renningen celebrates its honorary citizen . In: stuttgarter-nachrichten.de . ( stuttgarter-nachrichten.de [accessed April 20, 2018]).
  14. ↑ Iraq | Believed Christians. Retrieved April 20, 2018 (German).
  15. ^ Kreiszeitung Böblinger Bote: Renninger Pastor Pitzal: Journey to Iraq. Retrieved April 20, 2018 .
  16. ↑ Stuttgarter Zeitung, Stuttgart, Germany: Discussion in Renningen: The Patriarch of Damascus speaks about the situation in Syria . In: stuttgarter-zeitung.de . ( stuttgarter-zeitung.de [accessed April 20, 2018]).
  17. ↑ Worldwide - Pastoral Care Unit CleBoRa Weissach, Renningen, Rutesheim. Retrieved April 21, 2018 .
  18. ^ Südwest Presse Online-Dienst GmbH: Bad Urach: It's about mercy . In: swp.de . January 26, 2016 ( swp.de [accessed April 20, 2018]).
  19. ↑ The Renninger nativity scene exhibition in Lorch Abbey this year leads back to Bethlehem at the turn of the century . In: remszeitung.de . November 12, 2009 ( remszeitung.de [accessed April 20, 2018]).
  20. ↑ Love requires persistence - LEOACTIVE . In: LEOAKTIV . June 14, 2017 ( leoaktiv.de [accessed April 20, 2018]).
  21. ↑ SWR Baden-Württemberg: Video "The Child Jesus in the Sign of the Times" - SWR Aktuell Baden-Württemberg. (No longer available online.) December 20, 2017, archived from the original on April 21, 2018 ; accessed on April 20, 2018 (German). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.ardmediathek.de
  22. ↑ Kreiszeitung Böblinger Bote: Renninger Nativity: Pastor Franz Pitzal lives the Christmas message. Retrieved April 20, 2018 .
  23. ↑ Leonberger Kreiszeitung, Germany: Renninger Krippe: 75,000 euros fill many people and alleviate hardship - Leonberger Kreiszeitung . ( leonberger-kreiszeitung.de [accessed April 20, 2018]).
  24. ↑ Stuttgarter Zeitung, Stuttgart, Germany: Renninger Krippe: Heartbeat moments before the crib . In: stuttgarter-zeitung.de . ( stuttgarter-zeitung.de [accessed April 20, 2018]).
  25. ↑ a b Stuttgarter Zeitung, Stuttgart, Germany: Renningen: A friendship not only at Christmas time . In: stuttgarter-zeitung.de . ( stuttgarter-zeitung.de [accessed April 20, 2018]).
  26. ↑ Stuttgarter Zeitung, Stuttgart, Germany: Renningen: Tony and Stella touch the hearts . In: stuttgarter-zeitung.de . ( stuttgarter-zeitung.de [accessed April 20, 2018]).
  27. ↑ Schwarzwälder Bote, Oberndorf, Germany: Calw: Prime Minister Kretschmann also visits Malmsheimer Krippe - Calw - Schwarzwälder Bote. Retrieved April 20, 2018 .
  28. ↑ Stuttgarter Zeitung, Stuttgart, Germany: Crèche in Renningen: Despite the hectic pace and preparations: Please slow down! In: stuttgarter-zeitung.de . ( stuttgarter-zeitung.de [accessed April 20, 2018]).
  29. ^ Stuttgarter Nachrichten, Stuttgart, Germany: Renningen: Pitzal and Faißt become part of the crib . In: stuttgarter-nachrichten.de . ( stuttgarter-nachrichten.de [accessed April 20, 2018]).
  30. ↑ Stuttgarter Zeitung, Stuttgart, Germany: Renninger Krippe: Graduation with "Senfkorn" and Johannes Schmalzl . In: stuttgarter-zeitung.de . ( stuttgarter-zeitung.de [accessed April 20, 2018]).
  31. ^ Leonberger Kreiszeitung, Germany: Renninger Krippe: 51 music groups and 6000 pieces of cake - Leonberger Kreiszeitung . ( leonberger-kreiszeitung.de [accessed April 20, 2018]).
  32. ^ SE Ulm-Basilika Drive to the Renninger Nativity Scene | Ulm basilica. Retrieved April 20, 2018 (German).
  33. ↑ The focus is on joy . In: Gäubote . ( gaeubote.de [accessed April 20, 2018]).
  34. ↑ Black Forest Bote, Oberndorf, Germany: Brigachtal: Brigachtaler are amazed at Renninger Nativity scene - Brigachtal - Black Forest Bote. Retrieved April 20, 2018 .
  35. ^ Allgäu GmbH: Advent exhibition in Lindenberg. Retrieved April 20, 2018 .
  36. ↑ Renninger Nativity. Retrieved April 20, 2018 .
  37. ↑ View - Pastoral care unit CleBoRa Weissach, Renningen, Rutesheim. Retrieved April 20, 2018 .
personal data
SURNAME Pitzal, Franz
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German Catholic parish priest and author of Christian books
DATE OF BIRTH February 21, 1936
PLACE OF BIRTH Iglau , Moravia