Francis Demann

Franziskus Demann (born October 27, 1900 in Freren ; † March 27, 1957 in Osnabrück ) was a Roman Catholic clergyman and bishop of Osnabrück . He died immediately after his episcopal ordination.

Life

Memorial plaque to Demann's episcopal ordination in front of the entrance to St. Peter's Cathedral in Osnabrück

Demann, who grew up with seven older siblings, had to interrupt his high school studies in Meppen as a senior secondary school graduate in 1918 in order to do his military service on a minesweeper. After the war he moved to the grammar school in Lingen , which he left in 1921 with the school leaving certificate. He then began as a candidate for priesthood in the Diocese of Osnabrück to study philosophy and theology at the theological faculty of the Westphalian Wilhelms University in Münster and became a member of the academic Catholic student association Unitas -Frisia Münster.

After just one semester, he switched to the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome as an alumne of the Collegium Germanicum et Hungaricum . In the church of the college Demann was on 30 October 1927 the vicar general for the city of Rome, Basilio Cardinal Pompili , for ordained priests . The later Archbishop of Munich and Freising , Joseph Cardinal Wendel (1901–1960) belonged to his year of consecration . The following year, 1928, Demann left Rome with the title of Dr. theol. et phil.

He found his first pastoral care position in the same year as vicar in Haren an der Ems. His duties also included teaching at the Rector's School there. In 1931 he was transferred as vicar to Leer / East Friesland . There he was also entrusted with religious instruction at the higher education institutions. Since 1933 on leave of absence for further studies in Münster, Demann passed the state examination there in 1937 for the teaching profession at secondary schools.

Subsequently, he was entrusted with the supervision of the theology students of the dioceses Osnabrück and Hildesheim , who studied in Münster. During the Second World War he kept in close contact with the future priests who had been drafted into the field. In addition to the office of ephor, Demann took over a lectureship in dogmatics and homiletics at the Osnabrück seminary in 1942 , which was converted into a full professorship at Easter 1949. The appointment to the cathedral capital in Osnabrück in 1953 was followed in January 1954 by the appointment to the clergy .

On April 23, 1956, the Osnabrück Cathedral Chapter elected Demann Bishop of Osnabrück, Pope Pius XII. preconceived him on May 23 of the same year. He put his pontificate under the motto O crux, ave, spes unica (“O cross be hailed, our only hope”). The date of consecration, which was set for September 14, 1956, had to be postponed to the spring of 1957 due to a heart attack that Demann had suffered four days earlier. On March 27, 1957, Archbishop Joseph Cardinal Frings of Cologne consecrated him as bishop in Osnabrück Cathedral with the assistance of Muenster Bishop Michael Keller and Osnabrück Auxiliary Bishop Johannes von Rudloff . Immediately after the ordination , Demann died of a heart attack in front of the cathedral portal after he had blessed the believers waiting there. A memorial plaque commemorates him today. Bishop Keller announced the shocking news to the people in the cathedral that Bishop Demann, who had just been ordained, was dead.

The Requiem took place on April 1, 1957 and was celebrated by his long-time friend and fellow student from Roman days, Archbishop Joseph Cardinal Wendel of Munich . Demann was buried in the Marienkapelle (bishop's crypt) of Osnabrück Cathedral.

literature

• Bernhard Fritze: Demann, Franziskus . In: Emsland history. Vol. 7; Dohren 1998; Pp. 128-133.
• Peter Häger:  Demann, Gerhard Franz (iskus). In: Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL). Volume 14, Bautz, Herzberg 1998, ISBN 3-88309-073-5 , Sp. 916-918.
• Rainer Hehemann: Demann, Franziskus . In: Rainer Hehemann (arrangement): Biographical handbook on the history of the Osnabrück region ; Bramsche 1990; P. 62.
• Bernd Holtmann: The Osnabrück Cathedral Chapter ; Neuenkirchen 1983; Pp. 150-151.
• Johannes Rüschen: Well-known Emsländer from the past. Biographical notes on Emsland personalities from the years 1200–1975 ; Bremen 1988; P. 203.
• Hermann Queckenstedt: Bishop for only one day. On the life and death of Franziskus Demann ; Cathedral bookstore Osnabrück; Osnabrück 2007; ISBN 978-3-925164-40-8 .
• Wolfgang Seegrün: Demann, Franziskus ; in: LThK ³ 4; Sp. 79.
• Walter Wittler: From episcopal ordination to death. In memory of Bishop Dr. Franziskus Demann ; Ankum 1957.
• Franz Demann , in: Internationales Biographisches Archiv 17/1957 of April 15, 1957, in the Munzinger Archive ( beginning of article freely accessible)

Web links

• Entry on Franziskus Demann on catholic-hierarchy.org
• The dying of the bishop in the film. 60 years ago, Francis Demann collapsed after being ordained. Kirchenbote Osnabrück, March 21, 2017, accessed on March 25, 2017 . 

predecessor	Office	successor
Wilhelm Berning	Bishop of Osnabrück 1957	Helmut Hermann Wittler