Ernst Heinrich Karlen
Ernst Heinrich Karlen CMM ( born 1 February 1922 in Toerbel, Canton Valais, Switzerland, † 28 October 2012 in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe) was Archbishop of Bulawayo.
Life
Ernst Heinrich Karlen resigned after his graduation in 1942 the Congregation of the Missionaries of Mariannhill in Brig in, put on 8 September 1943, his first profession and studied philosophy and theology with the Jesuits in customs, as well as at the University of Innsbruck. On 22 June 1947 he was ordained priest. After studying at an Austrian Jesuit college he graduated from 1948-1950 doctoral studies in theology at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome. From 1951 he taught moral theology and canon law at the Seminary of St. Peter in KwaZulu- Natal and 1952 to 1957 at the National Seminar in Durban. From 1958 to 1963 he was a missionary in the Transkei in 1959 and priest in Qhumbu. From 1963 to 1968 he was Vicar General and Administrator of the Cathedral of Umtata.
Pope Paul VI. appointed him on 26 September 1968 on the Bishop of Umtata. The Apostolic Delegate in South Africa and Apostolic Pro- Nuncio to Lesotho John Gordon consecrated him bishop December 3, 1968; Co-consecrators were Joseph Grueter CMM, Bishop Emeritus of Umtata, and Alfonso Liguori Morapeli OMI, Archbishop of Maseru and Apostolic Administrator of Leribe.
On 9 May 1974, he was called by Pope Paul VI. appointed bishop of Bulawayo in what was then Rhodesia. Karlen was for many years chairman of the Liturgical Commission of the Bishops' Conference, which translated the liturgy into the language of Xhosa and isiNdebele. From 1975 to 1977 he was President of the Episcopal Conference of Zimbabwe ( Zimbabwe Catholic Bishops ' Conference ZCBC ). Karlen mediated again in the ethnic conflicts of the local population and the settlers. In 1983 he had a five -hour meeting with President Robert Mugabe and called him to a peace process with his opponent Joshua Nkomo. With elevation of the Diocese of Bulawayo to the archbishopric, he was appointed on 10 June 1994 to the Archbishop.
On 24 October 1997, Pope John Paul II accepted his resignation age-related. Karlen died on 28 October 2012 following an operation in hospital Mater Dei in Bulawayo.