Karl Forster (theologian)

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Karl Forster (born January 27, 1928 in Amberg ; † November 23, 1981 in Augsburg ) was a German Roman Catholic theologian . He was the founding director of the Catholic Academy in Bavaria, first secretary of the German Bishops' Conference and professor of pastoral theology in Augsburg.

Life

Born in Amberg in 1928 as a child of Karl and Katharina Forster; his father ran the state technical college for mechanical engineering in Amberg. After the family moved to Landshut in 1929, Karl Forster passed his Abitur there in 1946. After studying philosophy from 1946 to 1948 at the Philosophical-Theological College in Freising , he then studied theology at the University of Munich until 1952 . Here he became an active member of the K.St.V. Ottonia Munich in the KV . In 1949/50 he was AStA chairman and state chairman of the Bavarian student body. In 1949 he wrote a prize work advertised by the faculty, The Defense of the Teaching of St. Thomas von der Gottesschau by Johannes Capreolus , for which he received the prize of the theological faculty and which was also accepted as a dissertation . In 1952 he graduated with the synodal exam and the doctorate to Dr. Theol. finished his studies. This was followed by practical pastoral training and preparation for ordination in the Freising seminary from 1952 to 1953 .

In 1953 Forster was ordained a priest in Freising Cathedral by Cardinal Joseph Wendel , Archbishop of Munich and Freising . He then worked as a chaplain in Tuntenhausen and Miesbach , then as an assistant to Michael Schmaus at the Grabmann Institute in Munich. In addition, he worked as a religious teacher, nurse pastor and director of the Jakob-Balde-Haus student residence. He started in the trade dogma a habilitation project About the wisdom of St. term. Augustine .

Cardinal Wendel appointed Forster in 1957 (with the participation of Michael Schmaus and Romano Guardini ) as the founding director of the Catholic Academy in Bavaria . In 1958, Karl Forster initiated the establishment of the state organization for Catholic adult education in Bavaria, as well as the construction of the Kardinal-Wendel-Haus, which opened in Schwabing in 1962, as the academy's conference center. He was involved in the founding of the Commission for Contemporary History (1962), for university circles in the Bavarian university cities and for the academy made contacts abroad in Rome, Paris and the USA.

At the suggestion of Julius Cardinal Döpfner , Archbishop of Munich and Freising since 1961, the German Bishops' Conference elected him its first secretary in 1967. In this task he advised and supported the Bishops' Conference u. a. in questions of pastoral coordination, in church political tasks, cooperation with the offices of the Protestant church, the promotion of world missions and church development work.

In 1971 Forster took over the chair for pastoral theology at the newly established University of Augsburg . There he carried out research projects, such as the attitude of German Catholics to universal church tasks, or the social responsibility of the church and the Catholics.

Forster was on 15 February 1960 in Munich by the Honorary Grand Prior Cardinal Joseph Wendel in the Equestrian Order of the Holy grave in Jerusalem invested and appointed prior of the Commandery in Munich. In October 1960 he was appointed ecclesiastical ceremonial of the Bavarian Order Province.

Karl Forster died unexpectedly in Augsburg on November 23, 1981 on the way to the lecture. He was buried on November 27th in the Perlacher Forst cemetery in Munich.

Participation in committees

  • ASTA Chairman of the University of Munich and
  • State Chairman of the Bavarian Student Union (1949 to 1950)
  • Chairman of the State Working Group for Catholic Adult Education in Bavaria and Member of the Board of the Federal Working Group for Catholic Adult Education (1958 to 1967)
  • Diocesan commissioner for church broadcasts on radio and television (1958 to 1968)
  • Representative of the Catholic Church in the Broadcasting Council of Bavarian Radio (1960 to 1962 and 1968 to 1981)
  • Representative of the Catholic Church on the ZDF TV Council (1962 to 1968).

Award

Publications (in selection)

  • The defense of the doctrine of St. Thomas of the God Show by Johannes Capreolus , (Award-winning scripture from the theological faculty of the Ludwig Maximilians University in Munich), (= Munich Theological Studies, 2nd, Systematic Department, Volume 9); (Dissertation Munich, Theological Faculty, from July 5, 1952). Munich 1955.
  • with Karl Fröhlich, Georg Waldmann :, Signs and Messages. The Eucharist in the proclamation of our day. Sermons , (= Pfeiffer work books, Volume 22), Munich 1961.
  • with Michael Schmaus : The cult and today's man , Munich 1961.
  • Religion as the foundation of our existence Presentation at the representative meeting of KV 1961 - KV special prints 1961
  • (Ed.): Possibilities and limits for dealing with historical and political guilt in criminal proceedings (= studies and reports of the Catholic Academy in Bavaria, issue 19), Würzburg 1962
  • Julius Cardinal Doepfner (= Men who make the Council, number 13), Notre Dame 1965, Julius Cardinal Döpfner (English), (published in German in: Men of the Council, Würzburg 1965).
  • (Ed.): Academic celebration for the 80th birthday of Romano Guardini , Würzburg 1965, (= academy lectures, issue 5)
  • (Ed.): Interviewed Catholics, on the future of faith and the church. Evaluations and comments on the surveys for the Joint Synod of the Dioceses in the Federal Republic of Germany , Freiburg i. Br., Basel, Vienna 1973, ISBN 3-451-16744-1 .
  • (Ed.): Priest between adjustment and distinction. Evaluations and comments on the surveys carried out on behalf of the German Bishops' Conference among all world and religious priests in the Federal Republic of Germany , Freiburg (im Breisgau), Basel, Vienna 1974, ISBN 3-451-17001-9 .
  • (Ed.): Forgiveness, Reconciliation, Peace (= interdisciplinary theology, volume 2), Donauwörth 1976, ISBN 3-403-00588-7 .
  • (Ed.): Religious without a church? A Challenge for Faith and Church , (edited on behalf of the Central Committee of German Catholics , prepared by Commission 8 "Pastoral Basic Questions" of the Central Committee of German Catholics), (= Topos-Taschenbuch, Volume 66), Mainz 1977, ISBN 3- 7867-0661-1 .
  • On the Küng case , questions and answers. Donauwörth 1980, ISBN 3-403-01079-1 .
  • Faith - Church - Politics. On the role of the Christian faith and the ecclesiastical office in political disputes (= Church and Society, Volume 84), Cologne 1981, ISBN 3-7616-0629-X .
  • with Gerhard Schmidtchen , Faith and the Third World. Results of a representative survey on world church tasks and the motives of German Catholics (= development and peace. Scientific series, volume 27), Munich, Mainz 1982, ISBN 3-459-01474-1 and ISBN 3-7867-1019-8 .
  • Faith, Church, Pastoral Service (= Faith and Church in Dialogue with the World of Today , Volume 1), Würzburg 1982, ISBN 3-429-00819-0 .
  • Church and World (= Faith and Church in Dialogue with the World of Today , Volume 2), Würzburg 1982, ISBN 3-429-00820-4 .
  • The word proclaim , Würzburg 1984, ISBN 3-429-00885-9 .

literature

  • Siegfried Koß: Karl Forster. In: Siegfried Koß, Wolfgang Löhr (Hrsg.): Biographisches Lexikon des KV. 6th part (= Revocatio historiae. Volume 7). SH-Verlag, Schernfeld 2000, ISBN 3-89498-097-4 , p. 28 ff.
  • Simon Oelgemöller: Karl Forster (1928-1981). Catholicism in the Political Culture of the Federal Republic of Germany , Paderborn: Schöningh 2019 (Publications of the Commission for Contemporary History, Series B: Research; 137), ISBN 978-3-506-79271-6 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Siegfried Koß, Wolfgang Löhr (Hrsg.): Biographisches Lexikon des KV. 6th part (= Revocatio historiae. Volume 7). SH-Verlag, Schernfeld 2000, ISBN 3-89498-097-4 , p. 28.
  2. ↑ 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 148 ff.


personal data
SURNAME Forster, Karl
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German Roman Catholic theologian
DATE OF BIRTH January 27, 1928
PLACE OF BIRTH On the mountain
DATE OF DEATH November 23, 1981
Place of death augsburg