Odilo Lechner

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Former Abbot Odilo Lechner (2012)

Odilo Lechner OSB (born January 25, 1931 in Munich as Hans Helmut Lechner ; † November 3, 2017 ibid) was a German Benedictine , religious priest and abbot of the Abbey of St. Boniface in Munich and Andechs . When he renounced the office of abbot in 2003, he was the longest-serving Benedictine abbot in the world.

Life

Lechner was born as the only child of a bank clerk in Munich- Bogenhausen . He first attended the Wilhelmsgymnasium in Munich and from 1946 the grammar school of the Benedictine Abbey of Metten , where he passed the Abitur examination in 1949. He then studied philosophy and theology in Munich and Innsbruck (there as a member of the Collegium Canisianum ). In 1952 he entered the Benedictine Abbey of St. Boniface. He made his temporary profession on November 7, 1953, he was given the religious name Odilo . On December 23, 1956 Odilo Lechner was in the Basilica of St. Boniface in Munich Archbishop Cardinal Joseph Wendel for priests ordained the first Mass sermon of the Jesuit Karl Rahner . First Lechner worked as a chaplain and catechist in the parish of Sankt Bonifaz in Munich's Maxvorstadt .

His predecessor, Abbot Hugo Lang , enabled him to continue his studies in 1961, which he completed with a dissertation in philosophy on the idea and time of Augustine's metaphysics in 1964 at the University of Würzburg .

Father Odilo was elected abbot of Saint Boniface on July 14, 1964 , and on September 8, 1964, at the age of only 33, took over the management of the Munich monastery as well as the Andechs monastery in Upper Bavaria as the seventh abbot . He had previously been coadjutor of the previous abbot Hugo Lang . The abbot's benediction was made by Julius Cardinal Döpfner , the Archbishop of Munich and Freising ; it was the first concelebration as part of an abbot consecration in the Archdiocese of Munich and Freising. The Basilica of St. Boniface, which had been destroyed in the war, was rebuilt during Lechner's tenure. In the 1970s, the "Center Saint Boniface" was built in place of the destroyed nave of the neo-Romanesque basilica. In 1982 he led the funeral service for Carl Orff . The motto of Abbot Odilus was Dilatato corde ("With a wide heart"); it comes from the Benedictine rule and from Psalm 119 ( Ps 119,32  EU ).

After reaching the age of 70, Abbot Odilo asked in 2001 to be able to resign from the office, but at the request of the convention remained in office until his resignation in 2003. In 2003, Father Johannes Eckert succeeded Abbot Odilos.

Former Abbot Odilo published numerous writings, he worked as a priest, writer and speaker until his death . He died in the early morning of November 3, 2017.

Awards

Quotes

“Germany is certainly not worthless; but values ​​are shifting in a society that is changing, that is struggling with globalization and is facing worrying demographic developments. "

- Odilo Lechner, Berlin, October 25, 2005

Fonts (selection)

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Sabine Weis: Through life with a wide heart. Bayerischer Rundfunk , November 3, 2017, accessed on November 5, 2017.
  2. ^ Benedictine Odilo Lechner consecrated abbot 50 years ago . Catholic News Agency , Aug. 11, 2014.
  3. ^ "With a wide heart" - Abbot Odilo Lechner OSB. (pdf, 263 kB) St. Boniface Monastery, November 3, 2017, p. 1 , accessed on November 5, 2017 .
  4. ^ O. Lechner: The Second Vatican Council: Religious Life and Spirituality . In: Konrad Hilpert (Ed.): Generation Council. Herder, Freiburg i. Br. 2013, ISBN 978-3-451-30916-8 , p. 111.
  5. ^ Lilo Gersdorf: In memoriam Carl Orff (1895-1982) . In: Orff-Schulwerk-Informations, No. 29, May 1982, p. 16, accessed on November 5, 2017 (pdf, 3.7 MB).
  6. ↑ Office of the Federal President
predecessor Office successor
Hugo Lang Abbot of Sankt Bonifaz, Munich
1964–2003 		Johannes Eckert
Augustin Mayer Chairman of the Salzburg Abbots' Conference
1972–1982 		Christian Schütz
Augustin Mayer
Albert Brettner 		Abbot praeses of the Bavarian Benedictine Congregation
1972–1978
1984–1993 		Albert Brettner
Gregor Zasche
personal data
SURNAME Lechner, Odilo
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Lechner, Hans Helmut (maiden name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German religious priest, Benedictine and abbot of the Abbey of St. Boniface and the Andechs Monastery (1964–2003)
DATE OF BIRTH January 25, 1931
PLACE OF BIRTH Munich
DATE OF DEATH 3rd November 2017
Place of death Munich