Gallus Steiger
Gallus Steiger OSB (born March 27, 1879 in Büron ; † November 26, 1966 in Peramiho ) was a Swiss missionary benedictine and initially abbot ordinary of Lindi Abbey , then abbishop of Peramiho Abbey in Tanzania .
Life
After attending the collegiate high school in Einsiedeln in 1901, Bernhard Steiger joined the later St. Ottilien Archabbey ( religious name Gallus) and was ordained a priest in 1905. Sent as a missionary to what was then German East Africa in 1906 , he worked there on various mission stations. As a Swiss he escaped the expulsion of the Germans after the First World War and in 1922 was appointed Apostolic Prefect and in 1928 Abbot Ordinary of the Private Benedictine Abbey of Lindi (today the Archdiocese of Songea ). When this was divided into the Peramiho and Ndanda Abbeys in 1931 , Steiger stayed in Peramiho and was ordained titular bishop of Chalcis in Graecia in 1934 . As such, he headed the abbey and the mission area until his resignation in 1952. He founded several mission stations and consecrated around 50 churches. Between 1943 and 1948 he had the Peramiho abbey church built. For this purpose, 3 million bricks were produced in-house.
Gallus Steiger promoted the school and health system as well as the press and advocated Swahili as the national language. He is said to have walked several 10,000 km in order to be able to give confirmation as a bishop in a huge area .
He died at the age of 87 in Peramiho and is also buried there.
literature
- Lambert Dörr : Abbot Bishop Gallus Steiger OSB (1879–1966) . EOS, St. Ottilien 2014, ISBN 978-3-8306-7674-4 .
Individual evidence
- ^ History of the Peramiho Abbey. Expulsion of all German missionaries. Peramiho Mission Benedictine Abbey Tanzania, accessed March 19, 2017 .
Web links
- Ivo Auf der Maur: Steiger, Gallus. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .
- Gallus Steiger in Biographia Benedictina (Benediktinerlexikon.de), version of January 2, 2014.
- Entry on Gallus (Bernhard) Steiger on catholic-hierarchy.org ; accessed on March 13, 2017 ..
- Entry on Gallus Steiger on medal online , November 21, 2008.
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Steiger, Gallus |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Steiger, Bernhard (maiden name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Swiss Benedictine monks, abbot ordinary of Lindi and Peramiho abbeys in Tanzania |
| DATE OF BIRTH | March 27, 1879 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Office |
| DATE OF DEATH | November 26, 1966 |
| Place of death | Peramiho |