Gerhard Schaffran

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Bishop Gerhard Schaffran on his inaugural visit to Crostwitz in November 1970

Gerhard Schaffran (born July 4, 1912 in Leschnitz , Upper Silesia , † March 4, 1996 in Dresden ) was Chapter Vicar of the Archdiocese of Breslau for the Archbishopric of Görlitz and Bishop of Dresden-Meißen .

Life

Bishop Karl Lehmann , Bishop Gerhard Schaffran, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger and Cardinal Joachim Meisner (1987)

Schaffran was born the son of a teacher. He had previously been transferred from Breslau to Leschnitz am Annaberg . In the First World War he fell as an officer and the widow moved with Gerhard and his siblings to Görlitz. Gerhard Schaffran first attended a grammar school in Berlin, but passed the Abitur in Görlitz and studied theology in Breslau . After his ordination on August 1, 1937 by Adolf Cardinal Bertram , Schaffran was first a chaplain in Wroclaw , then a military pastor during the war and then voluntarily as a prison chaplain in Soviet captivity in Azerbaijan. After his release he consciously went to the GDR , where he was rector of the catechist seminar in Görlitz and from 1959 worked as a lecturer in homiletics at the seminary in Neuzelle and as a prison chaplain .

On November 24, 1962, Schaffran was appointed titular bishop of Semnea and auxiliary bishop of the chapter vicar Ferdinand Piontek . The episcopal ordination donated him on January 22nd, 1963 by the Berlin bishop Alfred Bengsch ; Co-consecrators were the auxiliary bishops Friedrich Maria Rintelen from Magdeburg and Hugo Aufderbeck from Erfurt . Schaffran's motto was Soli Deo .

On November 8, 1963, the Görlitz Cathedral Chapter elected him to succeed Bishop Ferdinand Piontek and on November 26, 1963 the Holy See , like Piontek, granted him all the rights of a resident bishop. To support him after his appointment as Bishop of Meissen, an auxiliary bishop was placed at his side, Bernhard Huhn , who succeeded Schaffran in 1972 in Görlitz as the apostolic administrator of this diocesan area.

On September 23, 1970, Gerhard Schaffran took office as Bishop of Meissen . Until 1987 he headed the Diocese of Meißen, whose name was changed to Diocese of Dresden-Meißen on November 15, 1979 and whose seat was moved from Bautzen to Dresden in 1980 . From 1980 to 1982 he chaired the Berlin Bishops' Conference . A highlight in his work was hosting the only Catholic meeting in the GDR from July 10th to 12th, 1987 in Dresden.

On August 1, 1987, Pope John Paul II accepted his resignation under canon law. Schaffran died in Dresden in 1996 and was buried in the bishop's crypt of the Catholic Court Church.

Fonts

  • The Melk, Dürnstein, Göttweig, Klosterneuburg monasteries. Langewiesche 1958, together with Gerhard Kerff.

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Konrad Hartelt: Ferdinand Piontek (1878-1963): Life and work of a Silesian priest and bishop . In: Research and sources on the church and cultural history of East Germany . tape 39 . Cologne / Weimar 2008, ISBN 978-3-412-20143-2 , pp. 423 .
predecessor Office successor
Otto Spülbeck Bishop of Meißen
Bishop of Dresden-Meißen
1970–1987 		Joachim Reinelt
Ferdinand Piontek Chapter Vicar of the Archdiocese of Breslau for the Archbishopric of Görlitz
1963–1972 		none
Bernhard Huhn
( Apostolic Administrator )
personal data
SURNAME Schaffran, Gerhard
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German clergyman, bishop of Dresden-Meißen
DATE OF BIRTH 4th July 1912
PLACE OF BIRTH Leschnitz , Upper Silesia
DATE OF DEATH March 4, 1996
Place of death Dresden