Joseph Freundorfer

Joseph Freundorfer (born August 31, 1894 in Bischofsmais ; † April 11, 1963 in Augsburg ; also: Josef Freundorfer ) was a New Testament scholar and from 1949 to 1963 Bishop of Augsburg .

Life

Grave in the Augsburg Cathedral

Joseph Freundorfer studied philosophy and theology in Passau and was ordained priest on June 29, 1920 in St. Stephen's Cathedral in Passau . He was cooperative administrator in Griesbach im Rottal and seminar prefect at the Episcopal Passau seminary in St. Valentin. In 1922 he began a doctorate in New Testament exegesis and in 1926 with a thesis on original sin and Erbtod the Apostle Paul in Munich doctorate . With the writing The Apocalypse of St. Johannes and Hellenistic cosmology and astrology , he completed his habilitation there in 1928 and received the Venia legendi for the New Testament subject . He then worked in Rome at the Pontifical Biblical Institute and the Vatican Library as well as convector of the German National Foundation Collegio Teutonico di Santa Maria dell'Anima . In addition, he was a private lecturer in New Testament exegesis in Munich, then a professor at the Philosophical-Theological University in Dillingen .

In the fall of 1930 he became an associate professor at the Philosophical-Theological University in Passau. In 1933 he signed the confession of professors at German universities and colleges about Adolf Hitler . From 1930 to 1939 he was editor-in-chief for the " Biblical Journal ". In 1940 he was appointed to the Pontifical Biblical Commission. After the war he was in the fall of 1945 as a full professor at the philosophical-theological university to Passau appointed ; In 1947 he became its rector.

In 1949 he was appointed by Pope Pius XII. appointed Bishop of Augsburg. The episcopal ordination on 21 September 1949 received his Cardinal Michael von Faulhaber ; Co- consecrators were Simon Konrad Landersdorfer OSB, Bishop of Passau, and Franz Xaver Eberle , Auxiliary Bishop in Augsburg. His episcopal motto was Cupidus evangelizare divitias Christi .

As a bishop he strove above all to intensify Catholic action and gave new impetus to religious life in his diocese through regional Catholic days. He paid particular attention to social housing, the activities of the family association of German Catholics and the strengthening of the Catholic press. Joseph Freundorfer was the councilor of the first session of the Second Vatican Council in 1962 .

Since his student days Freundorfer was a member of the Catholic Student Union Südmark (Academic Görresverein) in Munich in the KV . He was also an honorary member of the KBStV Rhaetia Munich .

He was awarded the Bavarian Order of Merit on December 15, 1959 by the then Bavarian Prime Minister Hanns Seidel . On May 9, 1960, he was honored with the Grand Cross of Merit with Star of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany .

In 1961 he was appointed Knight of the Order of Knights of the Holy Sepulcher by Cardinal Grand Master Eugène Tisserant and invested on April 29, 1961 by Archbishop Lorenz Jaeger , Grand Prior of the Order.

Fonts

• Original sin and hereditary death with the apostle Paul. A religious-historical and exegetical study of Romans 5: 12-21. Aschendorff, Münster 1927.
• The apocalypse of the apostle John and the Hellenistic cosmology and astrology. A discussion of the main results of Franz Boll's investigation: "From the Revelation of St. John". Herder, Freiburg im Breisgau 1929.
• The Eternal Gospel of the Cross. Five Christian speeches in Holy Week . Erich Wewel Verlag , Krailling before Munich 1939
• Livable from the New Testament. Lectures. Echter, Würzburg 1940 ( ² 1948).
• Providence, suffering and war. Biblical thoughts. Echter, Würzburg 1940 (2nd greatly expanded and revised edition under the title Licht im Leid. Echter, Würzburg 1949).
• together with Karl Staab : The Thessalonians, the Captivity Letters and the Pastoral Letters. Pustet, Regensburg 1950.

literature

• Engelbert Maximilian Buxbaum (Ed.): Dr. Joseph Freundorfer, Bishop of Augsburg (1949 - 1963): his life and work according to his own and contemporary documents; from "Waldler boy" to university professor and reigning bishop; Studies and documents. Regensburg: Schnell and Steiner 2004 ISBN 3-7954-1633-7

Web links

• Literature by and about Joseph Freundorfer in the catalog of the German National Library
• Entry on Joseph Freundorfer on catholic-hierarchy.org ; Retrieved April 13, 2014.

predecessor	Office	successor
Joseph Kumpfmüller	Bishop of Augsburg 1949–1963	Josef Stimpfle