Leo Nowak
Leopold Nowak (born March 17, 1929 in Magdeburg ) was the first Catholic bishop of the re-established diocese of Magdeburg from 1994 to 2004 .
Life
After leaving school, he completed a commercial apprenticeship, as he was supposed to take over his father's men's business in Magdeburg. This was followed by a two-year visit to the technical college for industry and trade, which he completed with the Abitur . In 1950 Nowak decided to pursue a spiritual career. He started studying theology and philosophy at the University of Paderborn and at the Erfurt seminary . On 10 May 1956 he was in Magdeburg from the Episcopal Commissary in the Episcopal Office Magdeburg, Friedrich Rintelen Maria , for ordained priests . He then worked from 1956 to 1958 as vicar at St. Johannes Baptist (Seehausen) , then in Großkorbetha , Lützen , Merseburg , Ziesar , and from 1967 to 1975 at St. Anna (Stendal) . In 1975 Bishop Johannes Braun made him head of the pastoral office.
On February 12, 1990 Pope John Paul II appointed Leo Nowak as titular bishop of Cissa and apostolic administrator in Magdeburg. He was ordained bishop on March 24, 1990 in Magdeburg by his predecessor Johannes Braun. Co- consecrators were the Archbishop of Paderborn and later Cardinal Johannes Joachim Degenhardt and the Apostolic Administrator of Schwerin, Theodor Hubrich . Nowak's motto is Instaurare omnia in Christo ("Renew everything in Christ").
From 1821, today's diocese formed the eastern part of the Archdiocese of Paderborn . Since it was not possible to administer the area in the GDR from Paderborn , an episcopal office was established there in 1973 . This officially belonged to the Archdiocese of Paderborn and the apostolic administrator was accordingly only active there as auxiliary bishop , but in fact it developed into an independent diocese. The (consecrated) bishop / administrator was a member of the Berlin Bishops' Conference .
Today's diocese of Magdeburg was separated from the Archdiocese of Paderborn with the Apostolic Constitution Cum gaudio on June 27, 1994 and elevated to an independent diocese on July 8, 1994 with Leopold Nowak as the first bishop. On October 9, 1994, Leo Nowak was introduced as Bishop of Magdeburg by the Apostolic Nuncio Lajos Kada . The term of office ended on March 17, 2004 after Pope John Paul II accepted the resignation request, which every bishop of the Roman Catholic Church is obliged to under canon law when he reaches the age of 75.
Auxiliary Bishop Gerhard Feige , who directed the affairs of the diocese as diocesan administrator during the Sedis vacancy , was appointed as successor by the Pope on February 23, 2005 and was appointed to his office on April 16, 2005.
On May 10, 2006 Leo Nowak celebrated his golden jubilee as a priest in the St. Sebastian Cathedral in Magdeburg . With him four other gold jubilees of the diocese celebrated the festival service.
Awards
- 2007 - Great Cross of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany
- 2015 - Order of Merit of the State of Saxony-Anhalt
Publications
- Leo Nowak: Ineradicable. The principle of hope for Christians and non-Christians. St. Benno Verlag 2019, ISBN 978-3-7462-5446-3 .
literature
- Short biography for: Nowak, Leopold . In: Who was who in the GDR? 5th edition. Volume 2. Ch. Links, Berlin 2010, ISBN 978-3-86153-561-4 .
Web links
- Literature by and about Leo Nowak in the catalog of the German National Library
- Entry on Leo Nowak on catholic-hierarchy.org
- Bishop Nowak on the homepage of the Diocese of Magdeburg on the occasion of his 85th birthday
Individual evidence
- ↑ Catholic Propstei St. Anna, Stendal (ed.): St. Anna zu Stendal. Stendal 2008, p. 71
- ↑ Ineradicable. The principle of hope for Christians and non-Christians. St. Benno Publishing House.
predecessor | Office | successor |
---|---|---|
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Bishop of Magdeburg 1994 - 2004 |
Gerhard Feige |
personal data | |
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SURNAME | Nowak, Leo |
ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Nowak, Leopold |
BRIEF DESCRIPTION | first Catholic bishop of the diocese of Magdeburg |
DATE OF BIRTH | March 17, 1929 |
PLACE OF BIRTH | Magdeburg |