Alfred Bengsch

Alfred Cardinal Bengsch ( born September 10, 1921 in Berlin -Schöneberg, † December 13, 1979 in East Berlin) was bishop of Berlin.

Life

Alfred Bengsch was born in Berlin -Schöneberg. He is the older brother of Hubert Bengsch and uncle of actor Hubertus Bengsch. Alfred Bengsch, son of a Catholic church cashiers, grew up in the Schöneberg parish of St. Elizabeth. From 1926 to 1950 he lived with his parents in the tenement temple Weg 26, at the 1995 Berlin memorial to him was placed. Bengsch studied after visiting the school 1940/1941 Catholic theology in Fulda. In 1941 he became a soldier of the Wehrmacht and was from 1944 to 1946 in American captivity.

1946 to 1950 he continued his theological studies in the monastery Neuzelle and received on 2 April 1950, the sacrament of Holy Orders. Until 1954 he was a chaplain in Berlin. By 1956 Bengsch studied in Munich and Erfurt and received a doctorate in theology. 1957 to 1959 he was a lecturer in dogmatic theology and homiletics in Neuzelle. In 1959 he was rector of the seminary of Erfurt.

On May 2, 1959, he was named by Pope John XXIII. Titular Bishop of Tubia and auxiliary bishop in Berlin, headquartered in East Berlin. He received his episcopal consecration Cardinal Julius Dopfner on 11 June of the same year. Co-consecrators were Bishop Friedrich Maria Rintelen from Magdeburg and Bishop of Meissen, Otto Spülbeck. His motto was Adiutores Gaudii Vestri ( "servants of your joy "). 1961 Bengsch was chosen as the successor of Julius Cardinal Dopfner Bishop of Berlin.

In 1962 it was John XXIII. awarded the title of archbishop. From 1962 to 1965 he took part in the Second Vatican Council in Rome. On June 26, 1967 took him by Pope Paul VI. as cardinal priest with the titular church of San Filippo Neri in Eurosia in the College of Cardinals.

Bengsch was an advocate of papal primacy and the course of political abstinence of the Catholic Church in the GDR. In 1976 he was chairman of the Berlin Conference of Bishops, which emerged from the Berlin Ordinarienkonferenz, he appointed Bishop of Berlin 1961 board since his appointment.

Bengsch was Grand Cross Knight of the Equestrian Order of the Holy grave in Jerusalem.

Alfred Cardinal Bengsch was buried in the lower church of St. Hedwig's Cathedral. His name was engraved on a memorial stone on the St. Hedwig Cemetery in Berlin -Alt- Hohenschonhausen.

Work

Bishop Bengsch differed in his administration clearly from its predecessors. He was challenged as a strategist, especially in the political and economic issues and concerns of everyday life. His theological and pastoral side was formative for the whole Catholicism in the GDR in the 1960s and 1970s, partly it is today.

His focus was always on the primacy of the parish pastoral care and the collection of the faithful to the celebration of the sacraments. He was also always trying to priests and bishops, whose responsible and senior position, he often lifted out. Other priorities were the concrete encourage the training of community workers and youth work (eg religious education ), but also the symbolic dimension of his actions as a bishop.

His main goal was to unit - visible in the Diocese of Berlin. This he figured on many occasions: sermons, prayer and divine worship, the church, in structure and staffing decisions. It is also evident, especially in the planning and guides his business trips to West Berlin and the trips abroad where Bengsch Always put sign of the unity of his diocese and the Catholic Church in the GDR. He stayed always clear, be careful not to be exploited by the State for its goals.

His course was, however, not without contradiction, particularly as a result of the opening of the Church and of the '68 movement was his silence on many topics attacked critical, since the objectives and rationale Bengschs were not communicated down.

Writings

• History of salvation and healing knowledge, Leipzig 1957
• On the way to the Lord, 1959
• Appeals and Probation, Leipzig 1960
• The belief in the Resurrection, 1962
• In anticipation of the Second Coming, 1966
• Council for you, 1966
• Bankruptcy of the principles? , 1967
• Faith and Criticism, 1968
• A. Bengsch, Michael Schmaus, Elisabeth Gössmann: Do we still have principles, 1968, ISBN 3-88096-412-2?
• Church without a cross?, 1969
• Dignity of the service, 1969
• A bishop is to answer questions, 1970
• Manipulation, and Christian life, 1970
• With the heart believe, 1971
• Neither present nor the future ..., 1972, ISBN 3-87554-100-6
• Where is the sermon today?, 1974, ISBN 3-87554-118-9
• Mystery and succession ", Berlin 1978
• Eucharist. Memory and devotion, 1980, ISBN 3-87554-191- X