Maximilian Aichern
Maximilian Aichern OSB (born December 26, 1932 in Vienna ) is emeritus Bishop of Linz .
Life
Maximilian Aichern was born in Vienna as the son of Max († 1980) and Franziska († 1998) Aichern. He was religiously shaped by the Kalasantines , who looked after his home parish St. Josef ( Vienna XIV. ). He attended high school and graduated in 1951 with the Matura from. Originally, he was supposed to take over his parents' butcher's business. Aichern attended vocational school and passed the journeyman's examination for butchers . When his younger sister was able to take over the family business, he joined the Benedictine Abbey of St. Lambrecht in Styria in 1954 . He then studied in Salzburg and at the Papal Athenaeum Sant'Anselmo in Rome .
The ordination received Maximilian Aichern on July 9, 1959 in the Abbey Subiaco near Rome. He was initially a chaplain in St. Lambrecht and religion teacher in the state vocational school in Murau . In 1964 he became Abbot Coadjutor and from February 24, 1977 to January 16, 1982 he was Abbot of St. Lambrecht Monastery. From 1978 to 1981 he was also Abbot President of the Austrian Benedictine Congregation .
In May 1981 he was informed that he was to be the Bishop of Linz. Aichern rejected this office several times and only gave his approval in December. On December 15, 1981, Pope John Paul II appointed him successor to Franz Zauner . Franz Cardinal König donated him the episcopal ordination in the Cathedral of the Conception of Mary in Linz on January 17, 1982.
Aichern's motto was: In caritate servire ("To serve in love"). He was known as the “Social Bishop of Austria”. Within the Austrian Bishops' Conference he was responsible for social and political issues. The world of work or the Sunday rest were particular concerns for him. Under his leadership, the bishops drew up the social shepherd letter of the Catholic bishops of Austria in 1990 . He was also instrumental in the creation of the Social Word of the World Council of Churches in Austria , which was published in 2003. He also founded the Episcopal Unemployment Foundation and paved the way for the “Alliance for Free Sunday”.
Aichern spoke against the reprocessing plant in Wackersdorf and called in a pastoral letter the construction and operation of nuclear power plants "after Chernobyl " as "ethically no longer acceptable."
In the first ten years after taking office, he officially visited all 485 parishes in the diocese as bishop. For several years Aichern accommodated two refugee families in his bishop's house.
In 2005, he surprisingly announced his resignation for reasons of age, which Pope Benedict XVI had on May 18 . was accepted. After that, at the request of the Pope, he remained Apostolic Administrator of the Diocese of Linz until the inauguration of his successor Ludwig Schwarz on July 6, 2005 .
In an interview in 2012, Maximilian Aichern expressed understanding for the concerns of the Austrian pastors' initiative .
criticism
Aichern was repeatedly criticized for his conduct of office (too liberal in the eyes of many conservatives), and complaints were also lodged in Rome. The private association " kath.net " denounced on its website in particular the alleged or actually tolerated violation of liturgical norms at mass and the dispensing of the sacraments. When announcing his resignation, Aichern emphasized not to resign because of this criticism, quote: “Certainly not. I should have resigned much earlier ”.
Works
- Churches and chapels in the parishes of the Diocese of Linz. An art-historical-pastoral documentation . Bischöfliches Ordinariat, Linz 2001, ISBN 3-902195-00-2 .
Honors (excerpt)
- 1992: Great Golden Decoration with the Star for Services to the Republic of Austria
- 2005: Great Golden Decoration of Honor of the Province of Upper Austria
- 2008: Erwin Wenzl Prize: Prize for life's work
- 2014: Admission to the Brotherhood of Santa Maria dell'Anima ("Anima Brotherhood")
- Great gold medal of the state of Styria
- Ring of Honor of the State of Styria
literature
- Christine Haiden : Maximilian Aichern. Bishop with the people . Trauner, Linz 2005, ISBN 3-85487-847-8
- Peter Hofer: Attentive solidarity. Festschrift for Bishop Maximilian Aichern on his seventieth birthday . Pustet, Regensburg 2002, ISBN 3-7917-1846-0
Web links
- Diocesan Bishop Maximilian Aichern OSB ( Memento from February 17, 2012 in the Internet Archive )
- Entry on Maximilian Aichern on catholic-hierarchy.org
- Literature by and about Maximilian Aichern in the catalog of the German National Library
Individual evidence
- ↑ Social shepherd letter from the Catholic bishops of Austria. Osterr. Bishops' Conference, May 15, 1990 Text online: [1]
- ↑ http://www.sozialwort.at/
- ^ Herbert Schorn: Maximilian Aichern: Bishop instead of butcher. www.nachrichten.at, December 27, 2017
- ^ Church: Potatoes and Cabbage - ( Der Spiegel, September 29, 1986)
- ^ A b Maximilian Aichern has been a bishop for 30 years. religion.orf.at, accessed on June 23, 2012 .
- ↑ Liberal Bishop Aichern after resignation: "Have done my services". In: derStandard.at. May 23, 2005, accessed December 5, 2017 .
- ↑ Rome wanted to put Aichern in front of the auxiliary bishop. In: derStandard.at. May 23, 2005, accessed December 5, 2017 .
- ↑ orf.at - Theologians confirm "denunciations" ( Memento from May 23, 2005 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ http://www.news.at/a/dioezesanbischof-aichern-wechsel-spitze-linzer-kirche-112393
- ↑ List of all decorations awarded by the Federal President for services to the Republic of Austria from 1952 (PDF; 6.9 MB)
- ↑ Bishop Aichern receives the Great Gold Medal of Honor from the State of Upper Austria Bishop Aichern receives the Great Gold Medal of Honor from the State of Upper Austria ( Memento from October 27, 2012 in the Internet Archive )
- ^ Bishop Aichern honored with the Wenzl Prize. Oberösterreichische Nachrichten, October 28, 2008, p. 5
predecessor | Office | successor |
---|---|---|
Franz Zauner |
Bishop of Linz 1981-2005 |
Ludwig Schwarz |
Koloman Holzinger |
Abbot praeses of the Austrian Benedictine Congregation 1978–1982 |
Clemens Lashofer |
Wilhelm Blaindorfer |
Abbot of the Abbey of St. Lambrecht Abbot coadjutor 1964–1977, Abbot 1977–1982 |
Otto Strohmaier |
personal data | |
---|---|
SURNAME | Aichern, Maximilian |
ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Aichern, Maximilian OSB |
BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Austrian religious, bishop of the diocese of Linz |
DATE OF BIRTH | December 26, 1932 |
PLACE OF BIRTH | Vienna |