Josef Stimpfle

Coat of arms of Josef Stimpfle as archbishop ad personam

Gravestone in the Augsburg Cathedral

Stimpfles birthplace in Maihingen

Josef Stimpfle (born March 25, 1916 in Maihingen ; † September 12, 1996 in Augsburg ) was the 81st Bishop of Augsburg .

Life

Josef Stimpfle came to the Episcopal Boys' Seminar in Dillingen an der Donau in 1926 . After graduating from high school in 1935, he began studying theology and philosophy. He was then accepted into the Collegium Germanicum in Rome and continued his studies at the Pontifical Gregorian University. In 1940 he was called up for military service. On July 28, 1946, he was ordained a priest by the Augsburg Bishop Joseph Kumpfmüller . After working as a chaplain in Augsburg-Oberhausen, he was able to continue his studies in Rome in 1948 and received his doctorate in theology in 1951 . In 1951 he was chaplain at the St. Ulrich and Afra basilica in Augsburg . In 1952 he took up the post of sub-rain at the Dillinger seminary .

After Bishop Joseph Freundorfer died on April 11, 1963, Stimpfle was on September 12, 1963 by Pope Paul VI. appointed Bishop of Augsburg. The Archbishop of Munich and Freising, Julius Cardinal Döpfner , donated him the episcopal ordination on October 26th of the same year. Co- consecrators were the Regensburg Bishop Rudolf Graber and the Augsburg Auxiliary Bishop Josef Zimmermann . Stimpfle participated in the second, third and fourth session of the Second Vatican Council as a council father. In addition to his diocese, he was also heavily involved in the universal Church, especially Latin America and Eastern Europe. As the episcopal motto he chose Plebi Dei peregrinanti - "The wandering people of God".

On February 22, 1969, Stimpfle founded the German priestly community in the Engelwerk in Maria Vesperbild .

In 1970 Stimpfle was appointed Knight of the Knight of the Order of the Holy Sepulcher by Cardinal Grand Master Eugène Cardinal Tisserant and invested in Cologne Cathedral on December 5, 1970 by Lorenz Cardinal Jaeger , Grand Prior of the German Lieutenancy . Most recently he was a Grand Officer of the Order and Prior of the Order Province of Bavaria.

On March 30, 1992, Pope John Paul II accepted his age-related resignation offer and awarded him the personal title of Archbishop for his services . Stimpfle died in 1996 and was buried in Augsburg Cathedral .

honors and awards

• 1966: Bavarian Order of Merit
• 1966: Honorary citizen of Dillingen an der Donau
• 1970: Accolade as Knight of the Holy Sepulcher
• 1978: Great Cross of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany, with star (1986)
• 1982: Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic
• 1984: Europe Medal of Merit
• 1985: Honorary doctorate from the University of Augsburg
• 1987: Honorary citizenship of Augsburg
• 1992: Robert Schuman Special Prize
• Honorary citizen of Maihingen

Naming

A hall of the Catholic University Community of Augsburg at Hermann-Köhl-Straße 27 and a school wing in Ikot Ekpene ( Nigeria ) are named after Archbishop Stimpfle .

Individual evidence

1. ^ Rituals of the Opus Sanctorum Angelorum , Innsbruck 1970
2. ↑ Hans Jürgen Brandt: Jerusalem has friends. Munich and the Order of Knights of the Holy Sepulcher , EOS 2010, page 1114
3. ↑ Announcement of awards of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany. In: Federal Gazette . Vol. 30, No. 172, September 13, 1978.

literature

• Ekkart Sauser :  Stimpfle, Josef. In: Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL). Volume 20, Bautz, Nordhausen 2002, ISBN 3-88309-091-3 , Sp. 1436-1439.

Web links

Commons : Josef Stimpfle  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Literature by and about Josef Stimpfle in the catalog of the German National Library
• Entry on Josef Stimpfle on catholic-hierarchy.org ; accessed on August 24, 2014.

predecessor	Office	successor
Joseph Freundorfer	Bishop of Augsburg 1963 - 1992	Viktor Josef Dammertz OSB