Joseph Wendel

Cardinal Wendel at the 76th Katholikentag in Fulda (far left), 1954

Joseph Wendel (right) next to Konrad Adenauer (center) and Bishop Karl Christian Weber at the final rally of the 77th Catholic Day in Cologne , 1956

Grave site in the Frauenkirche in Munich , 2012

Joseph Cardinal Wendel (born May 27, 1901 in Blieskastel , † December 31, 1960 in Munich ) was Archbishop of Munich and Freising .

Life

Joseph Wendel was born in Blieskastel, then part of the Bavarian Palatinate . After high school and university he received in the October 30, 1927 Rome by Basilio Cardinal Pompili the priesthood .

In 1941 he was appointed by Pope Pius XII. appointed titular bishop of Lebessus (Lebissos) in Lycia and appointed coadjutor bishop of the Speyer diocese . He received his episcopal consecration on June 29, 1941, Bishop Ludwig Sebastian from Speyer ; Co- consecrators were the Bishop of Würzburg , Matthias Ehrenfried , and the Bamberg Auxiliary Bishop Joseph Otto Kolb . On May 20, 1943, Wendel took over the office of Bishop of Speyer. On November 7, 1952, he was enthroned as successor to Michael Cardinal von Faulhaber on the chair of the Archbishop of Munich and Freising.

As Bishop of Speyer, Wendel was already involved in the establishment of a South German Lieutenancy of the Order of the Knights of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem . In November 1952, Cardinal Grand Master Nicola Canali in Rome made the appointment as Honorary Grand Prior of the Order of the Knights of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem .

On January 12, 1953, Pope Pius XII. Wendel as Cardinal Priest of Santa Maria Nuova in the College of Cardinals .

In 1956 he became the first military bishop of the newly founded Bundeswehr . In 1960 he organized the World Eucharistic Congress in Munich, which also marked the theological high point of his career.

He died of a heart attack after the New Year's Eve sermon in 1960 in the bishop's court.

Wendel was an honorary member of the KDStV Aenania Munich and the KDStV Tuiskonia Munich in the CV as well as the KSSt.V. Alemannia Munich in the KV . Joseph Wendel joined the movement of the same name as a chaplain after a retreat in Schoenstatt . In addition to his work as director of the Episcopal Study Home in Speyer, he led the Schoenstatt Movement in the Diocese of Speyer. The retreat for his episcopal ordination was held by the founder of the Schoenstatt Movement, Father Josef Kentenich .

Episcopal coat of arms

The bishop's coat of arms shows in fields 1 and 3 a white cross on a blue field, the diocese coat of arms of Speyer. In fields 2 and 4 the personal coat of arms, on a blue background above a wavy band a white dove and below a crown. The crown stands for the kingdom of Christ (Christ the King), the water above it symbolizes the water of baptism through which one enters the kingdom of Christ. The dove stands above it twice: As a symbol for the Holy Spirit of love and truth.

The revised coat of arms of Cardinal Wendel: In the coat of arms is the Freising Mohr as a symbol for the Archdiocese of Munich and Freising as well as the personal coat of arms of the cardinal.

The words of his coat of arms, "Veritati et Caritati", refer to the realm of truth ("Veritati") and love ("Caritati"), which Cardinal Wendel wanted to serve: especially in times of disregard for faith such as during the Third Rich when Joseph Wendel chose the saying.

Coat of arms as the bishop of Speyer
Coat of arms as cardinal - archbishop of Munich and Freising

Honors

1952: Great Cross of Merit with Star and Shoulder Ribbon of the Federal Republic of Germany
1956: Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany
1958: Bavarian Order of Merit

literature

Karl-Ulrich Gelberg: Cardinal Wendel and Bavarian Politics 1952-1960. In: Contributions to Old Bavarian Church History, Vol. 46 (2001), pp. 209–233.
Manfred Heim : Wendel, Joseph. In: Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL). Volume 17, Bautz, Herzberg 2000, ISBN 3-88309-080-8 , Sp. 1543-1545. ( Article / beginning of article in Internet archive )

Web links

Commons : Joseph Wendel - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Literature by and about Joseph Wendel in the catalog of the German National Library
Wendel, Joseph. In: Salvador Miranda : The Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church. ( Florida International University website), accessed August 9, 2016.
Entry on Joseph Wendel on catholic-hierarchy.org ; accessed on August 9, 2016.
CV of Cardinal Wendel at www.erzbistum-muenchen.de

Individual evidence

↑ Hans Jürgen Brandt : Jerusalem has friends - Munich and the order of knights of the Holy Sepulcher: Festgabe for the golden jubilee of the Commandery Patrona Bavariae , EOS Verlag 2010, page 176 ff.

predecessor	Office	successor
Michael Cardinal von Faulhaber	Archbishop of Munich and Freising 1952–1960	Julius Cardinal Döpfner
Ludwig Sebastian	Bishop of Speyer 1943–1952	Isidor Markus Emanuel
-	Military Bishop for the Bundeswehr 1956–1960	Franz Hengsbach

personal data
SURNAME	Wendel, Joseph
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Wendel, Joseph Cardinal (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	German clergyman, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Munich and Freising (1952–1960)
DATE OF BIRTH	May 27, 1901
PLACE OF BIRTH	Blieskastel
DATE OF DEATH	December 31, 1960
Place of death	Munich

[1] Hans Jürgen Brandt : Jerusalem has friends - Munich and the order of knights of the Holy Sepulcher: Festgabe for the golden jubilee of the Commandery Patrona Bavariae , EOS Verlag 2010, page 176 ff.