Heinrich Pachowiak

Heinrich Pachowiak

Heinrich Pachowiak (born March 25, 1916 in Wilhelmsburg ; † November 22, 2000 in Hildesheim ) was a German Roman Catholic clergyman and auxiliary bishop of the Diocese of Hildesheim for over forty years .

Life

After studying theology at St. Georgen in Frankfurt and being ordained a priest on May 15, 1940 in Hildesheim Cathedral , Pachowiak first had to join the armed forces as a medical soldier . After returning from war and captivity , he was Episcopal Secretary to Bishop Joseph Godehard Machens from 1946–1952 , then deputy head of the Hildesheim seminary and from 1960 head of the Episcopal Pastoral Office. From 1953 to 1958 he was a diocesan youth pastor in the early years after the war , and with organizational talent, empathy and humor he was an unforgettable model for countless young people, especially when they met at the Burg Wohldenberg youth education center .

Already on May 27, 1958 Pachowiak was from Pope Pius XII. was appointed titular bishop of Phytea and auxiliary bishop in Hildesheim. He was ordained bishop on July 15, 1958 in the Basilica of St. Godehard, Bishop Heinrich Maria Janssen ; Co -consecrators were Bishop Helmut Hermann Wittler from Osnabrück and Auxiliary Bishop Adolf Bolte from Fulda .

He was one of the youngest among the German bishops and those taking part in the Second Vatican Council . As a council father , he attended all four sessions.

1967 appointed Bishop Janssen Pachowiak as Episcopal Vicar in Hanover . For the next two decades he became the face of the Catholic Church in the city and region.

1965–1987 he was also the representative of the German Bishops' Conference for members of the Federal Border Guard . In 1980 he received the Great Lower Saxony Cross of Merit , and in 1983 the Great Federal Cross of Merit .

Pachowiak played a decisive role in shaping the Hildesheim diocesan synods of 1968/69 and 1989/90 and was diocesan administrator during the vacancy of 1983 .

In 1992 Heinrich Pachowiak retired . He spent his last years at the cathedral courtyard and helped in liturgy and pastoral care as long as his health allowed. His funeral ceremony on November 29, 2000 in Hildesheim became a demonstration of gratitude and solidarity.

literature

• Renate Kumm: The Diocese of Hildesheim in the post-war period. Investigation of a diaspora diocese from the end of the Second World War to the Second Vatican Council (1945 to 1965). Hahnsche Buchhandlung Verlag, Hannover 2002, p. 31

Web links

• Entry on Heinrich Pachowiak on catholic-hierarchy.org ; accessed on July 1, 2017.
• Obituary November 2000