Bishop- Pope outed himself.....as a Jesuit

Bishop of Eichstätt: It is fascinating to see "the blooming of religious vocations in the young churches". There are very many in India, although the number of Catholics living there is "relatively modest".

The bishop of Eichstätt Gregor Maria Hanke has experienced the "enthusiastic and dedicated Jesuit" Pope Francis in Rome. During the recent General Assembly of the Congregation for Religious the pope had "really outed himself when meeting us as the son of Saint Ignatius," Hanke said in an interview with the "Church newspaper for the Diocese of Eichstätt". 

The Bishop of Eichstätt is himself a Benedictine and had for the first time taken part in a plenary session of the Congregation from 25th to 29th of November. He commented at the beginning of the "year of spiritual vocations" which has been proclaimed by Pope

Hanke told the diocesan newspaper that the growth of the orders "is located in Africa, Asia, and in some orders even in Latin America." Europe and North America were "no longer in the front row." It was fascinating to see "the bloom in religious vocations in the young churches". There are very many in India, although the number of Catholics living there was "relatively modest". At the same time it should not be forgotten that also in Europe there is new growth, "albeit at a low level." 

Orders as well as priestly vocations could "not recruit" like other occupations in the labour market, said the bishop. The awakening and promotion of vocations "begins with the fact that we allow young people spaces for tangible faith". Religious Christians should exemplify "the universal call to holiness" in an exemplary and courageous manner. Exactly where a Christian lives and works, "a footprint, or maybe even better, the imprint of his heart should be recognizable." That must "proceed in a slighty different manner than otherwise is found in the laws of economics and society". 

Source:

Abuse in Regensburg Domspatzen: Priest relieved of office

Nachrichten - Oberpfalz & Bayern - Bayern/Oberpfalz aus der MZ :: Mittelbayerische Zeitung :: www.mittelbayerische.de

The Bishop of Eichstätt Gregor Maria Hanke has suspended Father Sturmius Wagner, Dietenhofen-Großhabersdorf (Ansbach) with immediate effect from his pastoral duties. The priest is said to have sexually abused a minor during his time as a student assistant in the Regensburg Cathedral choir boarding school in the school year 1971/72, as the Roman Catholic Diocese of Regensburg announced on Wednesday.

Father Wagner. conceded on Tuesday in the press release wrong doing during his work in Regensburg, and asked the Diocese of Eichstätt to accept his resignation from the parish of Dietenhofen-Großhabersdorf and release him from the exercise of priestly services.

Sturmius Wagner worked from April 1970 to February 1972 in the boarding of the Regensburg Cathedral Choir as a student assistant. The mother of a student at that time reported that Wagner did not keep the necessary distance from her son. As a consequence, his task was ended at the cathedral choir, even if the allegation of sexual assault was not public. The Diocese of Regensburg in recent days has received concrete information about sexual abuse of a student in 1971. The Diocese of Regensburg is currently reviewing this information and now the prosecutor has been informed about the process.

The case came to light as a result of investigative journalism by Stern.  Wagner had shown films and magazines of a dubious nature to an 11 year old chorister studying at the school.

The Bishop preaches at Mass for dedication of the new church with Sturmius Wagner


Sturmius Wagner

Born in Amberg and since the end of April 2004 Parish Priest of the Parish of St. Walburga Dietenhofen-Großhabersdorf. Born in 1948, ordained in 1978 in Eichstätt, a member of the Ecumenical Commission of the Diocese, a founding member of the Association of Christian Churches in Bavaria. Wagner worked as a chaplain in Nuremberg-Reichelsdorf and in the pilgrimage church of Maria Bruennlein in Wemding
before he took over the Parish of Pfraunfeld and the office of the Deanery Youth Chaplain in the deanery of Weißenburg-Gunzenhausen.
The next place he worked was Wassertrüdingen. In the mountain town of Hessel Wagner was for almost fourteen years parish priest before he - at the request of Eichstätt Bishop Walter Mixa – took over as successor to Father Bernhard Kroll in Großhabersdorf.

Cathcon- Bernhard Kroll was himself suspended after he took part in a Protestant communion service at the Ecumenical Church Day in 2003.

New head for tumulteous Catholic university

Neumarkt: Bischof Hanke "entmachtet": Bishop Hanke "removed from power.

Archbishop Reinhard Marx of Munich has taken over the Chairmanship of the Foundation Council of the University of Eichstätt from Eichstätt Bishop Gregor Maria Hanke .

The chairman of the Bavarian Bishops' Conference takes the reins at the Catholic University in the hand. Prior to the university statutes being reformed, said Marx. Bavaria's Catholic bishops agreed this in their spring assembly in Altötting. Last year At the Catholic University of Eichstätt-Ingolstadt massive staff infighting occured after Bishop Hanke vetoed an already elected new University President.

German bishop slams liturgical abuse

Cathcon translation of kreuz.net – Ekelhaft: Moralin in der Epiklese- Disgusting: self-righteousnous at the epiclesis

Whoever has to deal with liturgy everyday, wallows in a swamp - said the Bishop of Eichstaett and that prayers according to the "knitting bobbin model" make him full of rage

Anger.

Since his time as a young student, the Benedictine bishop of Eichstätt, Monsignor Gregor Maria Hanke, has experienced liturgical abuses when he was outside his monastery to attend church services. Vatican Magazin reports in its January issue.

"Eucharistic prayers using the knitting bobbin model (Cathcon- where threads are drawn together) made him especially angry" - that is to say: prayers written on the evening before, the theological language of which was well beneath the liturgical requirements.

"If you mix self-righteousness into the epiclesis, I find it simply disgusting" - said the former English teacher (Cathcon- he said Disgusting in English to emphasise his point!)

Bishop Hanke finds behind such liturgical experiments “a misdirected endeavour to be as close as possible to the people and the desire to introduce everyday language into the liturgy. " Nothing could be more full of error.

Thereby liturgy is degraded into a mirror, "in which I always consider my own misery."

Moreover, heaven is no longer open. The descent of God "is hampered or prevented”.

Another problem of the "easy messing about" with the liturgy is that the long chain of tradition, in which the priest is joined in the Canon is broken.

So worship and spirituality are ousted through a bad sociology.

Monsignor Hanke was the only German Bishop who welcomed the Motu proprio 'for the re-admission of the old Mass and issued no restrictions for his diocese.

He will not be a darling

Immediately after his appointment as bishop of Eichstaett, Monsignor Hanke called himself a conservative.

At the same time, he is a "green bishop" - as earlier he was a "green abbot" - a favorite of the liberal press.

A determined Christian must not be "the darling of the contemporary world", warns Monsignor Hanke.

The price for a genuine way of life of the Christians was they were marked out from the world.

German Bishops caught napping at Christmas

from the ever excellent kreuz.net , a report on the low standard of German episcopal preaching.

Everyone asleep-Alles schläft (a play on the opening of the lyrics of Silent Night in the German version)

A deranged Christmas. Every year, the German bishops preach at Christmas before full cathedrals. With their banalities, they would even send the Virgin Mary and St Joseph to sleep. A commentary.

It is the Holy Night. While the angels rejoice at the birth of the Son of God, the churchgoers in the cathedrals of the contemporary ecclesiastical and spiritual decline do not hear much about the Christmas mystery.

Instead, on the way to Bethlehem, they are led by the bishops on the rocky path of senseless superficialities. The star of the Magi is obscured. Daily politics dictate the issues.

The Christmas sermons of the German pastors were even emptier than expected.

In the best case, there were the usual superficial phrases about the love of God.

The conservative Bishop Gregory Maria Hanke of Eichstaett suggested Christmas was "an invitation for us to collaborate with God."

The conservative Archbishop of Bamberg Ludwig Schick said that Christmas should not be allowed "to become just like commodities" -as if this has not been the case for decades.

Even the Bishop of Limburg, Msgr. Gerhard Pieschl, complained about long term "materialism", but here something else was added.

He spoke of lighting lamps, "to awaken the world from sleep, to dispel the darkness of the night, that is threatening to sink into an ever more hectic whirl of the material."

The fact that a reason for the hectic whirl of the material is that the church no longer has anything significant to say from the mouths of their chief pastors of the clergy, was not the viewpoint of the bishop.

Bishop Franz-Josef Bode of Osnabrück warned his believers, residents of the richest country in the world, as the pastors have done for decades without anything changing of a " widening gap between the rich and the poor".

He asked his Faithful, as they were focused on Christmas, to be active opponents of climate change – perhaps by symbolically reducing Christmas lighting?

Bishop Gerhard Feige of Magdeburg stated that there was "much filth in paradise." He revealed to his Faithful that excessive demands, economic pressures, technical possibilities and the desire to have always more for oneself was having a disastrous effect on the ecological equilibrium of the earth.

The solution to these problems? In Jesus of Nazareth, "the tortured and abused creation finds a new hope". It's as simple as that!

Bishop Heinrich Mussinghoff from Aachen devoted his sermon to two Africans who suffocated when they were smuggled in the undercarriage of an Airbus into Europe:

"No place for Africans. And if they enter, they are chased through the streets and pushed to death "- Msgr. Mussinghoff dramatically stated and doubtless moved his happy Christmas congregation to tears. (Cathcon note: heard this Bishop say once in a sermon, “God is not Catholic”.)

Several conservative bishops were still close to the field of Catholic moral teaching.

They defended the human rights of unborn life, old and sick people.

Can we hope that German bishops in the distant future also respect the right to life of the Christian mystery?

The Jewish Central Council of Germany accuses Catholic bishops of anti-semitism.

Translation of original article in German.


The President of the Jewish Central Council of Germany Charlotte Knobloch- "insinuations which were right at the border of anti-semitism. "




German Bishops have caused frictions on their visit to the Near East, Charlotte Knobloch says that the statements made by them were “at the border of anti-semitism”. The Bishops had compared Palestinian towns with the Warsaw Ghetto.

The Israeli Ambassador Shimon Stein spoke of a demonisation of Israel.







Fr Hans Langendoeffer SJ, the Secretary of the German Bishops’ Conference regretted the discord created. The members of the Permanent Council of the German Bishops’ Conference had visited Israel and the Palestinian Autonomous Areas for a week.


The Bishop of Eichstatt Gregor Maria Hanke who had compared the conditions in the Palestinian towns with those of the Warsaw Ghetto was criticized by Knobloch and Vice-President Dieter Graumann. The Bishop of Augsburg, Walter Mixa has in addition talked about Israeli racism in dealing with the Palestinians. These statements are according to Knobloch’s judgements, “moved close to the borders of anti-semitism”.



The President of the German Israeli Parliamentary Group in the Bundestag (German Parliament) Jerzy Montag asked the Bishops for an apology.



Knobloch said that it was especially disappointing that the visit had ended in upset.

No equivalence

“We also understand that the situation of the Palestinians is not easy”, says Graumann in a Cologne newspaper “but those who say the condition is equal to the suffering of the Jews in the ghettos of the Nazis, they truly have not learned anything from history. Such a statement has an anti-semitic core”. To relativise the deeds of the Nazis with the actions of the successors of the victims of the Nazis is evidence of a hostile attitude to Jews. The Central Committee expects Lehmann who is the President of the Bishops’ Conference to issue a clarification. Stein accused the Bishops of demagogy and demonising Israel.

Those who use terms like, “Warsaw Ghetto” in connection with Israeli or Palestinian politics have either forgotten everything or have not learnt anything or have morally failed. Langendoeffer explained that very personal remarks had been made by some when visiting Bethlehem under the influence of an “oppressive situation” and an emotional dismay of individuals, which however had since been corrected. This refers especially to an off the cuff remark referred to the Warsaw Ghetto.