Romanus fear

Romanus Bange OFM (born January 3, 1880 in Bochum ; † July 21, 1941 there ) was a German Franciscan and Roman Catholic priest .

Life

Stumbling block for Romanus Bange in front of the Christ-König-Church in Bochum.

Romanus Bange was accepted into the Saxon Province of the Franciscan Order in Warendorf on August 25, 1897 . On March 22, 1907, he was ordained a priest in Paderborn .

Father Romanus was a great orator and an eloquent preacher. On May 20, 1907, he spoke to 2,000 believers on the Heiligenberg near Ovenhausen in the Corvey deanery . Both in front of the Volksverein for Catholic Germany in Warburg and on the Marian pilgrimage to Verne (Westphalia) , he was able to speak convincingly and enthusiastically. In 1909 Romanus first came to Attendorn and later to Werl in the Provincial House. On August 7, 1910, he was appointed cathedral preacher of Paderborn for the first time by Archbishop Karl Joseph Schulte .

During the First World War Romanus worked as a nurse and pastor in the Maltese organization.

In August 1918 he took up his post as cathedral preacher in Paderborn again. At the same time he was vicar of the Franciscan convent . On September 17, 1932 Romanus Bange was appointed by Archbishop Caspar Klein as the first pastor of the new parish of Christ-König in Bochum.

During the National Socialist era , Romanus courageously defended the church against slander and suspicion. In Advent 1937 he was denounced for the first time and imprisoned for a week. His heart trouble intensified. On July 21, 1941, the Gestapo occupied the monastery in Bochum. A short time later, Father Romanus succumbed to his heart disease. His funeral turned into an impressive mass rally against the National Socialist regime. Over 6000 people took part in the funeral services on the church square and at the funeral in Bochum's main cemetery on the Freilrafendamm. The sermon was described by believers as the posthumous ministry of Father Romanus.

On June 27, 1947, a square in the Bochum district of Wiemelhausen was renamed Romnausplatz after Romanus Bange . On November 2, 2007 , a stumbling stone was laid in front of the Christ-König-Kirche in Bochum in his honor by the artist Gunter Demnig .