Jorge Gottau

Bishop Gottau visits Herne

Jorge Gottau CSsR (born May 23, 1917 in Esteban Agustín Gascón , Buenos Aires , Argentina , † April 24, 1994 in Buenos Aires) was the first bishop of Añatuya .

Origin and calling

As one of 11 children of the Volga Germans Joseph Gottau and Juliana Bahl who immigrated to Argentina , he spent his childhood in the Colonia San Miguel Arcángel in the province of Buenos Aires, from which the bishops Jorge Mayer , Enrique Rau and Alejandro Schell also come.

Gottau Jorge received his primary education at the Niño Jesús School in the above colony. He felt his priestly calling at an early age and entered the Redemptorist boys' seminary in Bella Vista in Buenos Aires at the age of 12 . In the spring of 1937 he moved to the Manuel Campos settlement of the Redemptorists near Pergamino for his novitiate . On February 2, 1938, he took his religious vows there. He later moved to Villa Allende , where he began studying philosophy and theology as a seminarian . There he received training as a mission priest.

He was ordained a priest on December 19, 1942 . He celebrated his primacy in Santa Teresa in the province of La Pampa and served as a pastor in the village of Darregueira in the province of Buenos Aires . In 1956 he was elected Redemptorist Provincial in Argentina.

bishop

Pope John XXIII appointed him on June 12, 1961 the first bishop of Añatuya. On August 27 of the same year, the Archbishop of Buenos Aires , Antonio Cardinal Caggiano , ordained him episcopal ; Co- consecrators were the Archbishop of Tucumán , Juan Carlos Aramburu , and the Former Bishop of Florida , Miguel Paternain CSsR. As a motto he chose the words Ad Jesum per Mariam . On October 1, 1961, he officially took over the diocese of Añatuya.

As a Council Father, Gottau took part in all four sessions of the Second Vatican Council .

Mission Bishop

The newly created diocese had only seven parishes and seven priests for 160,000 believers (1964) on 68,000 km². Gottau immediately traveled around his diocese, noticed the poor economic conditions and began building extensive aid in the Santiagueño Chaco region. For this great task he was able to build on the trust of several dioceses in Germany and on contacts with many individual German parishes. Sun visited Gottau mediation of ADVENIAT during the second Vatican Council u. a. the congregation St. Peter and Paul in Straelen and Herz-Jesu in Herne and found open-minded hosts in the pastors Wilhelm Mehring and Alfons Vogt . He also found valuable pastoral workers and supporters in various parts of Europe and Latin America. During the 31 years that he was head of the diocese, 15 new parishes and 200 chapels were built, whose spiritual life was not only sustained by priests and religious (the number of which increased significantly), but he was also able to access a wide network of lay people within and build outside the diocese. He also founded 26 schools (15 local elementary schools, 8 high schools, 2 faculties and one special school), agricultural and technical centers, vocational training centers and workshops. Seven houses for children, elderly and disabled people were also built under his leadership.

Health promotion was also very important to him. So he had canals, wells and health centers built. One of his most important projects was the elimination of the Triatoma infestans , which is one of the Chagas pathogens , through targeted development plans in the particularly affected areas. The expansion of the Argentine Caritas in all parishes made it possible to maintain poor food, sports centers and a cultural center. The small farmers in his diocese also benefited from his support for cooperatives. In 1982, the diocese began a self-promotion project, Project Salado , whose aim was to create community organizations, training leaders and entertainers, which, through extensive support, would achieve a stable population density and prevent the emigration of workers to other provinces. As a major supporter of this project, he was able to win the Misereor Episcopal Relief Organization to train technical teams and social workers. The result of this project was the establishment of the Union of Small Farmers of North Salado (Unión de Pequeños Productores Productores Salado Norte UPPSAN) in 1991.

"Less is more"

At the plenary assembly of the bishops of the Argentine Bishops' Conference in 1970, a national collection was created based on a proposal by Gottau, which, following the models of Adveniat and Misereor, should support the poorest dioceses in the country. An Episcopal Commission of Assistance to Needy Regions has been created and is headed by a chairman and three to five members. A task force determines the needs of a diocese through studies. These studies took into account areas whose inhabitants live in inhumane living conditions, whose lack of jobs and / or schools characterizes a lack of education. This National Collection was named Less is More . The collection, which has been carried out continuously for more than four decades, takes place annually across Argentina.

retirement

After his 75th birthday, he retired on December 21, 1992. He was made an honorary citizen of the region by the governor of Santiagueño Carlos Mujica in recognition of his extensive work. Gottau lived as Bishop Emeritus of Añatuya until his death in Buenos Aires. He was buried in the episcopal church in Añatuya.

Recognition and Legacy

On March 1st, 1996 the fundacion gottau was founded, whose main goal is the development of the Chaco region Santiagueño in continuation of Gottau's work. Inspired by his work, her tasks are to provide further information about the reality of life for the people in the diocese of Añatuya, the further development of the voluntary work of the fundraising and the formation of a community that is supposed to promote the development of the region and its residents.

Soon after his death there was a cry for his beatification . After completing the usual examination of life by the local bishop of Buenos Aires Archbishop Jorge Mario Bergoglio , the Congregation for the Causes of Saints granted its approval in 2010 to conduct the process of beatification. After investigations by the Roman Congregation, he was awarded the heroic degree of virtue . Jorge Gottau is revered today as the bishop of humanitarian development and as a symbol in the fight against extreme poverty.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Alberto Sarramone: Los Abuelos Alemanes del Volga. Editorial Biblos-Blau, 1997, Chapter VIII., ISBN 9879917979
2. ↑ Unión de Pequeños Productores Productores Salado Norte ( Memento of March 13, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF; 477 kB, Spanish)
3. ↑ http://www.colectamaspormenos.com.ar
4. ↑ http://www.fundaciongottau.org.ar/

predecessor	Office	successor
---	Bishop of Añatuya 1961–1992	Antonio Juan Baseotto , C.SS.R.