Wilhelm Kempf (Bishop)

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His relief in the Wilhelm-Kempf-Haus

Wilhelm Kempf (born August 10, 1906 in Wiesbaden ; † October 9, 1982 ibid) was the Roman Catholic Bishop of Limburg from 1949 to 1981 .

Life

Kempf was the eldest of four sons of a middle school teacher . He grew up in Wiesbaden and received his doctorate in 1928 in the subject Philosophy in Rome and received on 8 December 1932 Cathedral of Limburg , the sacrament of Holy Orders . From 1942 to 1949 he was pastor in the Heilig Geist church in the Frankfurt district of Riederwald . On July 25, 1949, Kempf was ordained Bishop of Limburg. He was the successor to Bishop Ferdinand Dirichs, who had died in an accident . Kempf's main consecrator was the Archbishop of Cologne , Cardinal Joseph Frings , co- consecrators of the Mainz Bishop Albert Stohr and the American bishop and later the first apostolic nuncio in the Federal Republic of Germany , Aloysius Muench .

From 1962 to 1965 he was a participant and secretary of the Second Vatican Council . In 1967 he founded the Limburger Domsingknaben .

Kempf was the first bishop in Germany who in 1969 gave democratically elected bodies, especially the lay people, more influence in the parishes and in the diocese. Although he was considered conservative, he was also tolerant and willing to talk to internal church reform efforts. This attitude prompted the Apostolic Nuncio Corrado Bafile to secretly address the Holy See in Rome in October 1973 in writing about the “disempowerment” of the “progressives” who held a key position in the diocese. Reactions from public opinion and the press would not last and therefore not to be feared. Kempf, to whom this document was leaked from the State Secretariat in Rome, made the letter public. The German Bishops' Conference and 60,000 Catholics who had supported a signature campaign declared their solidarity with Bishop Kempf. Bafile returned to the Vatican in 1975.

On August 10, 1981, his 75th birthday, Kempf applied to the Holy See for his retirement , as is prescribed in canon law, what was granted.

The important church historian Friedrich Kempf was a younger brother of the Limburg bishop.

Honors

In 1973 he was awarded the Great Cross of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany and in 1977 the star and in 1981 the shoulder ribbon. In 1976 he was made an honorary citizen of the state capital Wiesbaden. The Eberhard-Karls-Universität Tübingen made Kempf an honorary doctorate in theology in 1981 .

He was an honorary citizen of the community of Schloßborn im Taunus in his diocese , from which his father came. Wilhelm Kempf died on October 9, 1982 in Wiesbaden. The conference center of the Limburg diocese in Wiesbaden-Naurod is named after him.

Kempf was an honorary member of the Catholic student union Staufia Frankfurt in the KV .

Episcopal coat of arms

Coat of arms and motto

The coat of arms shows a red cross on a gold background, the coat of arms of the Limburg diocese. In the middle a golden dove, the symbol of the Holy Spirit. On the shield, miter cross and crook, above the (green) galero (bishop's hat ) with six (green) tassels (fiocchi) hanging down on the right and left.

His motto under the escutcheon: testimonium veritati ("Bearing witness to the truth").

Works

  • Belief and Freedom of Spirit. Knecht, Frankfurt am Main 1962.
  • At your word. Letters from the Bishop of Limburg to the parishes of the diocese on the Easter penance 1972-1981. Verlag des Bischöflichen Ordinariats, Limburg undated , ISBN 3-921221-01-3 .
  • For you and for everyone. Letter from the Bishop of Limburg during Lent 1981 to the parishes of the diocese, especially to those distant. Verlag des Bischöflichen Ordinariats, Limburg 1981, ISBN 3-921221-02-1 .

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Negative Police , in: Der Spiegel 41/1973
  2. ↑ Wiesbaden Courier of November 1, 2013: The diocese of the rebels. The recall of a Limburg bishop was hotly debated 40 years ago.
  3. ↑ Announcement of awards of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany. In: Federal Gazette . Vol. 25, No. 85, May 8, 1973.
predecessor Office successor
Ferdinand Dirichs Bishop of Limburg
1949–1981 		Franz Kamphaus
personal data
SURNAME Kempf, Wilhelm
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German clergyman, Bishop of Limburg
DATE OF BIRTH August 10, 1906
PLACE OF BIRTH Wiesbaden
DATE OF DEATH October 9, 1982
Place of death Wiesbaden