Reinhold Stecher
Reinhold Stecher ( born December 22, 1921 in Innsbruck, † 29 January 2013 ) was an Austrian theologian and bishop of the Diocese of Innsbruck.
Life
After his graduation in Innsbruck and community service of the Reich Labor Service in 1939 he joins the seminary in St. Michael in Matrei am Brenner one. After the dissolution of the seminar by the Gestapo, he studied further in Carinthia at the Monastery of St. Georgen. After a pilgrimage to Maria Waldrast Stecher was spent in 1941 to a two-month detention in a Gestapo prison. Then the collection was the Wehrmacht with front inserts in Karelia, Lapland and Norway. Stecher was wounded and entered the seminary Canisianum after returning a.
In 1947 he was ordained a priest in Schwaz. There, he worked as a prefect, teacher and pastor. In 1951 he was awarded his doctorate in theology. Since 1958 he was a member of the Catholic Student Association AV Raeto Bavaria Innsbruck in the ACA, which had been founded in 1908 by his father Heinz Stecher. In addition, he was a member of all the compounds in the ICV as well as 4 other Innsbruck connections. In the years 1956-1981 Stecher was religion professor at the College of Education and parallel Innsbruck from 1968 Professor of Religious Education at the Pedagogical Academy of the covenant. 1965 to 1970 he was Spiritual Director of the Seminary of the Diocese of Innsbruck and Feldkirch.
The Episcopal appointment was made in December 1980 by Pope John Paul II as the successor of Bishop Paul Rusch. He received his episcopal consecration on January 25, 1981 Paul Rusch. Co-consecrators were the Bishop of Bolzano-Bressanone, Joseph Gargitter, and the bishop of Feldkirch, Bruno Wechner. His motto was " Servire et confidere " ( "Serving and trust "). In the Austrian Bishops' Conference Bishop Stecher was for many years responsible Unit bishop for the presentations Caritas and women. At the same time Stecher was representative of the Austrian Bishops 'Conference in the Faith of the German Bishops' Conference. As the successor of Bishop Alois Kothgasser Stecher was appointed on 10 October 1997.
As Bishop Stecher went for a 'inclusive leadership style " one. He stressed trying to lead his diocese " in a spirit of togetherness", and advocated for a voice of the people about the various diocesan committees.
Stecher sat 1988, the legend of the alleged Jewish ritual murder of the " Anderl von Rinn " an end by banning the related cult; Pope Paul VI. had already in the 1960s the cult of Anderl von Rinn forbidden, because it is a forgery the relics. During his tenure, further fell to the visit of John Paul II in Innsbruck and the beatification of the two martyrs priest Otto Neururer and Jakob Gapp. In 1993 he signed the petition initiated by SOS fellow man against the ( from the FPÖ on a referendum ) the objective of tightening of asylum laws.
Shortly before the end of his term in 1997 Stecher wrote on the occasion of a decree of the Vatican on restrictions in participation of laity in pastoral church life in a ( not originally intended for publication ) letter, Rome had " lost the image of mercy and the representative and hard domination gained ", and attested the church leadership " a theological and pastoral deficit ".
2011, Stecher said, supported the possibility to dedicate even married priests, and described the call to disobedience of the Austrian priest initiative as a " broad-based, nationwide concern " that one could not simply ignore.
Stecher was an avid mountaineer, author and painter. Some of his works adorned in recent years the annual Christmas stamps of Austrian Post, at Christmas, 2012.
On January 29, 2013 Bishop Stecher died in a hospital in Innsbruck. He was buried on 2 February 2013, the crypt of the Innsbruck Cathedral.
Awards and honors
- Decoration of the Land Tirol (1981 )
- Ring of Tyrol ( highest award of the country) (1987 )
- Honorary citizen of the city of Innsbruck (1993 )
- Grand Gold Medal with Star for Services to the Republic of Austria (1993 )
- Honorary doctorate from the Faculty of Arts, University of Innsbruck " for his contribution to the creation of a climate of tolerance and dialogue " (1994)
- Honorary Citizen of the Municipality Velipoja in Albania " for his services to the village church and development, particularly water supply " (2003)
- Sermon price by the publisher for the German Economy ( 2010)
- Grand Officer of the Order of the Holy grave in Jerusalem