Heinrich Vieter

Gerhard Heinrich Vieter SAC ( born February 13, 1853 in Selm - Cappenberg; † November 7, 1914 in Yaoundé, Cameroon ) was Roman Catholic bishop and first Vicar Apostolic of Cameroon.

Life

Heinrich Vieter was born in 1853 in modest circumstances in southern Munsterland. After an apprenticeship and subsequent years of traveling as a journeyman carpenter, he entered 1883 in Masio ( northern Italy ) of the newly formed Missionary Society of the SAC at. This was followed by studies in Catholic theology at the Pontifical Gregorian University from 1884 to 1887. On May 8, 1887 in Rome Vieter received the sacrament of Holy Orders. Subsequently, he was responsible for the management of the convent's Seminary in Masio.

1889/1890 there was a short first mission trip with the task to care for Italian emigrants in their new home in Brazil. On July 20, 1890 an Apostolic Prefecture was established and appointed Vieter for the first Apostolic Prefect for Cameroon in the German colony of Cameroon. In October of the same year met Vieter together with other missionaries of his order in Douala in Cameroon one.

After a successful fourteen years of missionary work was the collection of Apostolic Prefecture Apostolic Vicariate of Cameroon. Pope Pius X appointed Heinrich Vieter 1904 Titular Bishop of Paraetonium and ordered him on 24 December 1904 the first Apostolic Vicar for Cameroon. The bishop ordained Vieter on January 22, 1905 Limburg Cathedral by Bishop Dominic Willi OCist; Co-consecrators were Maximilian Gereon Graf von Galen, Bishop of Münster in, and Karl Ernst Schrod, Auxiliary Bishop of Trier.

In his last years he was repeatedly weakened by physical exhaustion and tropical diseases. Heinrich Vieter died on November 7, 1914 in his bishop's house in Yaounde and found with great sympathy of the population his final resting place.

Beatification ( procedure)

In connection with the 100th anniversary of the establishment of the Apostolic Vicariate of Cameroon and the episcopal ordination Heinrich Vieters early 2005 to launch the official process for beatification of Bishop Vieters from the present Archbishop of Yaoundé.