Oswald Hirmer

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Oswald Georg Hirmer (born February 28, 1930 in Amberg ; † March 5, 2011 in Durban ) was a German clergyman , missionary and Roman Catholic bishop of Umtata .

Life

Oswald Hirmer studied theology and philosophy at the Regensburg seminary after graduating from high school in Amberg . He was ordained priest for the diocese of Regensburg on June 29, 1955 and worked as a chaplain in Ruhmannsfelden for two years . Initially against the resistance of the then Regensburg Bishop Michael Buchberger , Oswald Hirmer, Hubert Bucher and Fritz Lobinger decided in 1953 as seminarians in the Regensburg seminary to work in the mission . The mediation of Joseph Nachtmann (from 1952 to 1956 secretary of missio in Munich, then director of the League Bank in Regensburg) was able to remove the obstacles. Fritz Lobinger went to South Africa in 1956, Oswald Hirmer a year later and Hubert Bucher in 1958. Hirmer initially worked in Aliwal and later in Georgetown in South Africa.

From 1969 he was involved with Fritz Lobinger for the near Johannesburg located Lumko Missio Logical Institute , which the implementation of the Second Vatican Council created Pastoral Institute of the Episcopal Conferences for Southern Africa. Here Fritz Lobinger and Oswald Hirmer contributed significantly to the development of the pastoral model of the Small Christian Communities . The concept of the Small Christian Communities also includes the model of Bible sharing , a method of common Bible study that has implications for liturgical services, catechesis , social projects and neighborhood help in a local community.

In Germany, he completed a doctoral program and in 1972 at the Westphalian Wilhelms University of Münster with a thesis on the function of the laity in the Catholic Xhosa -Gemeinde to Dr. theol. PhD and was then a lecturer at the Institute for Mission Studies in Georgetown. In 1972 Hirmer was appointed rector of the Zingisa Minor Seminary in Umtata.

From 1992 to 1996, Hirmer, together with the Federation of Asian Bishops' Conferences, was responsible for adapting the LUMKO program to the Asian situation and adapted the African model developed by him and Lobinger for building up basic church communities to Asian conditions.

Pope John Paul II appointed him Bishop of Umtata on April 21, 1997 with his seat in Mthatha (formerly Umtata) in the former South African homeland Transkei . He received his episcopal ordination from Wilfrid Fox Napier OFM , Archbishop of Durban , on June 28, 1997 in Mthatha; Co- consecrators were his predecessor in the diocese of Umtata, Bishop Andrew Zolile T. Brook , and Fritz Lobinger , Bishop of Aliwal . His episcopal motto was “I am with you”.

In 2004 he was appointed administrator of the Aliwal diocese, but commissioned the retired Fritz Lobinger to continue the diocese "in his name".

His age-related resignation was on February 8, 2008 by Pope Benedict XVI. granted. Most recently he lived, like Fritz Lobinger and Hubert Bucher, in a retirement home for clergy in Mariannhill near Durban , the seat of the Mariannhill missionaries .

Fonts

  • People of God . Geoffrey Chapman 1969, ISBN 978-0-225-48888-3 , together with Paul Nadal, Fritz Lobinger, Theodula Muller, Johannes Gruger, Ino Zimmermann, Paul Zimmermann
  • The function of the layman in the Catholic community: Investigations in the African mission taking into account the relevant experiences of non-Catholic communities in the Xhosa region of the Republic of South Africa . Vier-Türme-Verlag 1973, ISBN 978-3-878-68052-9 (dissertation)
  • The training of hymn leaders . Lumko Missiological Institute 1976
  • The pastoral use of the Bible: Gospel sharing methods . Lumko Missiological Institute 1971, with Lawrence Yombwe
  • Marx, money, Christ: an illustrated introduction into capitalism, Marxism, and African socialism, examined in the light of the Gospel . Mambo Press 1982, ISBN 978-0-869-22196-9
  • The Sunday reader's lectionary: for lay ministers . Collins 1986, ISBN 978-0-005-99921-9 , together with Fritz Lobinger
  • Alternative ways of being Church in the Asia of the 1990s . Federation of Asian Bishop's Conferences 1990
  • Our journey together: a guide for the Christian community to accompany adult catechumens on their journey of faith . Singapore Pastoral Institute 1993, ISBN 978-9-810-04209-7 , with Wendy Louis, Josephine Leow, Doris Woon (editors)
  • Godś children: Teachers guide book 1 . Volume 2, Heinemann 1995, together with Dina Cormick, Theodula A. Müller
  • Relive familiar texts , missio 1998
  • Communion in the Word: Workbook for Bible sharing . Bernward at Don Bosco 1999, ISBN 978-3-769-81116-2 , together with Georg Steins
  • About funerals: a big show, or what? . Paulines Publ. Africa 2001, ISBN 978-9-966-21616-8
  • About fear, witchcraft and Christian healing . Paulines Publ. Africa 2001, ISBN 978-9-966-21615-1
  • About the killer called AIDS . Paulines Publ. Africa 2001, ISBN 978-9-966-21614-4
  • Our Joy In Being Catholic - Our Catholic Customs And Beliefs . Oswald Hirmer and Diocesan Animation Team (DAT) of the Diocese of Mthatha South Africa, Mariannhill Mission Press 2007, Reprinted 2009, ISBN 978-0-620-37870-3

literature

  • Anselm Prior: A brief history of the Lumko Institute. Lumko Institute, Germiston (South Africa) 1993 (contains biographical information on Oswald Hirmer).
  • Paul B. Steffen : Places and Models for Formation and Ministry. Pastoral Institutes in Africa and Asia . In: Verbum SVD Vol. 51 (2010), H. 4, pp. 423-438.
  • Paul B. Steffen: Klaus Vellguth A new way of being a church. Origin and spread of the Small Christian Communities and Bible Sharing in Africa and Asia . Freiburg theological studies 91, Herder, Freiburg 2005. In Verbum SVD 53: 1 (2012) 118–121; idem in East Asian Pastoral Review 49: 2 (2012) 200–204 (book review)
  • Paul B. Steffen:  HIRMER, Oswald. In: Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL). Volume 34, Bautz, Nordhausen 2013, ISBN 978-3-88309-766-4 , Sp. 535-545.
  • Klaus Vellguth : A new way of being a church. Origin and spread of the Small Christian Communities and Bible Sharing in Africa and Asia. Herder, Freiburg 2005, ISBN 3-451-28857-5 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Sent to the borders of the earth ( Memento from December 3, 2016 in the web archive archive.today )
  2. ↑ a b Sermon by Pastor Bruno Todt on the occasion of the thanksgiving service for the 80th birthday of Bishop Oswald Hirmer on June 20, 2010 in the Church of the Holy Trinity ( Memento from October 18, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF file; 14 kB)
  3. ↑ LUMKO - Institute
  4. ↑ Dr. Oswald Hirmer - Bishop em. from Mthatha in South Africa
  5. ^ Message in the Christmas letter (PDF file; 107 kB) from Oswald Hirmer, Bishop em. from Mthatha in South Africa
predecessor Office successor
Andrew Zolile T. Brook Bishop of Umtata
1997-2008 		Sithembele Anton Sipuka
personal data
SURNAME Hirmer, Oswald
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Hirmer, Oswald Georg
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German Catholic clergyman, Bishop of Umtata, South Africa
DATE OF BIRTH February 28, 1930
PLACE OF BIRTH On the mountain
DATE OF DEATH March 5, 2011
Place of death Mariannhill near Durban