Theo Schmidkonz

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Theodor Maria Schmidkonz (born November 5, 1926 in Augsburg ; † January 2, 2018 in Krumbad ) was a German Roman Catholic theologian, priest, Jesuit and author.

Life

Childhood and youth

Theodor Maria Schmidkonz, so the baptismal name, was born on November 5, 1926 as the seventh of eight children to parents Rosina and Alois Schmidkonz in Augsburg. The Christian faith lived in his parents' home conveyed values ​​to Schmidkonz at an early stage that led him to social engagement and promoted his critical attitude towards National Socialism . After the Wittelsbach elementary school, Schmidkonz attended high school near St. Stephan in Augsburg. Due to a Jewish-friendly remark in an essay, he had to leave school and switched to high school near St. Anna .

A sermon by Father Rupert Mayer on June 29, 1936 in the St. Ulrich and Afra Basilica in Augsburg was an important turning point for him. Father Mayer's message that God loves him personally took him with him on his journey through life. In the federal New Germany and in the parish youth of St. Anton in Augsburg Schmidkonz found a spiritual home, which was mainly characterized by the chaplains Johannes Aichele and Willi Schönmetzler.

In 1942 Schmidkonz met Kaplan Hermann Josef Wehrle and chose him as his spiritual guide. At the monthly meetings in the rectory of the Heilig Blut parish in Munich's Bogenhausen district, he also met Alfred Delp regularly. Schmidkonz met Wehrle and Delp in Augsburg at the family of the heart specialist Dr. Fritz Reisert. According to his own statement, Schmidkonz met members of the Kreisau Circle twice in the Reisert house .

From 1943 Schmidkonz was deployed with his classmates as an air force helper in the air defense in Augsburg-Oberhausen . On November 19, 1943, he was arrested by the Gestapo for belonging to an illegal organization (Bund Neudeutschland) and interrogated in the following days.

Soldier and prisoner

In February 1944 he was called up to join the mountain troops in Bad Reichenhall . At the end of the three-week training, Schmidkonz refused to take the oath , but was nevertheless assigned to Bourg-Saint-Maurice . Here Schmidkonz refused to shoot hostages, had to dig his own grave, but was only held prisoner for two weeks as a punishment. When the situation became more threatening, the unit fled to the Little St. Bernard , where they were surrounded in the hospice ruins. After the liberation, Schmidkonz was taken to the hospital in Aix-les-Bains with a hepatitis disease .

Two weeks later the city was captured by the French. Schmidkonz was now a prisoner of war, had to work in a nearby coal mine and accompanied sick and dying fellow prisoners. With hunger edema, Schmidkonz was transferred to a prison hospital near Lyon on March 20, 1945 . The Pallottine Father Josef Schneider encouraged him to ask for admission to the barbed wire seminar in Chartres . Until he was released on January 24, 1946 due to illness, Schmidkonz spent five months preparing for the priesthood in the seminary for prisoners under the direction of Regens Abbé Franz Stock . Schmidkonz remembers a visit from Archbishop Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli , the then Apostolic Nuncio in France and later Pope John XXIII. on September 18, 1945.

Study and entry into the order

After his recovery, Schmidkonz continued his studies in the seminary in Dillingen until he fell out with Regens Johann Evangelist Strobl. Strobl expelled Schmidkonz from the house because Schmidkonz convicted him of lying.

After joining the Jesuits in 1948, completing his novitiate and studying philosophy at the Berchmanskolleg in Pullach, Schmidkonz worked for two years as prefect at the St. Blasien college . The study of Catholic theology at the Philosophical-Theological University of St. Georgen in Frankfurt am Main was followed by the ordination of priests in St. Michael in Munich on July 28, 1957 .

Student and priest chaplain

From 1958 to 1971 Schmidkonz was a student chaplain in Munich. The Second Vatican Council and the student movement of the 1960s shaped these years. On June 2, 1967, the student Sieger Köder asked for a room in the dormitory at Kaulbachstrasse 31, where Schmidkonz also lived. A friendship developed between the two, which lasted until Sieger's death. During this time, Köder produced the illustrations for the so-called "Tübingen Bible" using a metal etching process.

The illness with a South African virus prevented Schmidkonz from becoming rector of the Heinrich-Pesch-Haus in Mannheim after a sabbatical year with the Benedictine nuns in the Varensell Abbey .

During the rehab in the hospital of the Dillinger Franciscan Sisters in Buchloe, Bishop Dr. Josef Stimpfle Schmidkonz 1972, to become priest pastor in the diocese of Augsburg . In retreats , retreats , lectures and discussions, Schmidkonz accompanied many priests until his death. Works by Sieger Köder, Käthe Kollwitz , Rembrandt van Rijn , Vincent van Gogh and other artists were often the basis for Schmidkonz's observations and meditations. Before Schmidkonz moved to the Krumbad spa on December 16, 1986 , he also worked as a pastor in Streitheim for 10 years . For the first eleven years Schmidkonz was also a pastor in Krumbad for the guests of the spa and for the sisters of the St. Joseph Congregation . Schmidkonz belonged to the priestly council and was a spokesman for the program Das Wort zum Sonntag on ARD .

Schmidkonz stayed in Krumbad until his death. In the work “Stories and History”, which he completed a few days before his death, Schmidkonz tells “everyday stories” from his life that “touch the great history of the world”. He is buried in the Jesuit order cemetery in Pullach.

Publications

  • born to us . ettaler imago series 11. Buch-Kunstverlag, Ettal 1969
  • To be a Christian means to become a person . Television meditations. Martin-Verlag Berger, Buxheim (Allgäu) 1972
  • Mary , figure of faith . Meditations, questions, prayers. Rex-Verlag, Lucerne and Munich 1973, ISBN 3-7252-0239-7
    • Spanish: María - modelo de la fe . meditaciones, preguntas, oraciones. Trad. by: José Gallinger. Editorial Guadalupe, Buenos Aires 1974
    • Polish: Maryja wzorem wiary . rozważania pytania modlitwy. Przeł. Hieronim Warachim. Il. Teresa Chrost. 00. Kapucyni, Kraków 1980
    • Lithuanian: Marija - tikėjimo paveikslas . meditacijos, klausimai, maldos. Iš vokiečių kalbos vertė Lionginas Virbalas. Katalikų Pasaulio Leidiniai, Vilnius 2008, ISBN 978-9955-29-064-3
    • Dutch: Maria, zalig zij die geloofd heeft . meditaties, questions, giving. Uit het Duits vertaald door Sint-Trudo-Abdij, Male. Lannoo, Tielt en Utrecht, ISBN 90-209-0530-9
  • Words about everyday life . Word for Sunday. Martin-Verlag Berger, Buxheim (Allgäu) 1978, ISBN 3-7865-0043-6
  • with winner bait: Where are you, God? . Slides and Texts on the Tübingen Bible, Verlag Katholisches Bibelwerk, Stuttgart 1979, ISBN 3-460-31771-X
  • with Paul Schmidkonz and Animata Probst: Brother Franz . Texts: Paul u. Theo Schmidkonz. Images: Animata Probst. EOS, St. Ottilien 1981, ISBN 978-3-88096-200-2
  • O God . Prayer meditations on words of M. Theresia von Jesu Gerhardinger . EOS, S. Ottilien 1985, ISBN 3-88096-491-2
    • Czech: Volám k tobě, Bože . modlitby podle M. Terezie od Ježíše Gerhardingerové. Z německého orig. přel. Jaroslav Elšák. Karmelitánské Nakladat, Kostelní Vydří 1999, ISBN 80-7192-403-2
  • Mary - figure of faith . May devotions . St. Benno, Leipzig 1987, ISBN 3-7462-0112-8
  • In your hand . Prayer meditations on words from Father Rupert Mayer SJ. EOS, S. Ottilien 1987, ISBN 3-88096-070-4
  • Novena to Blessed Father Rupert Mayer SJ . EOS, S. Ottilien 1992, ISBN 3-88096-661-3
  • Way of the Cross experiences . Way of the Cross in the Church of St. Stephanus zu Wasseralfingen . With pictures of winner bait. Schwabenverlag, Ostfildern 2002, ISBN 978-3-7966-1053-0 (also: prayer booklet for congregations and groups)
  • Pictures of life - pictures of faith . Meditations. Schwabenverlag, Ostfildern 2006, ISBN 3-7966-1331-4
  • Osterweg , a path of hope and life in 14 stations. With pictures of winner bait. Schwabenverlag, Ostfildern 2015, ISBN 978-3-7966-1666-2 (also: prayer booklet for congregations and groups)
  • Prayers . meditative prayers for other occasions as well. Rex-Verlag, Lucerne and Munich
  • Stories and history . Schwabenverlag, Ostfildern 2018, ISBN 978-3-7966-1771-3
  • You show us the way to life . Meditations on pictures of winner bait. Schwabenverlag, Ostfildern 2018

Theo Schmidkonz also wrote numerous other texts for devotional and meditation pictures and calendars that were published by the Ver Sacrum art publisher or Schwabenverlag. In addition, Schmidkonz has also written lyrics (for example: O Lord, on your cross ... Praise to God, own part Augsburg No. 771)

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Theo Schmidkonz: Stories and History. Schwabenverlag, Ostfildern 2018, pp. 77–78.
  2. ↑ Chartres 1945, Herder-Verlag, ISBN 978-3451211980 , p. 324
  3. ^ Theo Schmidkonz: Stories and History. Schwabenverlag, Ostfildern 2018, pp. 100–101.
  4. ^ Theo Schmidkonz: Stories and History. Schwabenverlag, Ostfildern 2018, p. 7.

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Schmidkonz, Theo
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Schmidkonz, Theodor Maria (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German Roman Catholic theologian, priest, Jesuit and author
DATE OF BIRTH November 5, 1926
PLACE OF BIRTH Augsburg , Bavaria , Germany
DATE OF DEATH 2nd January 2018
Place of death Krumbad