People who go to Saxony following 64 years in the Oldenburger Münsterland, characterised by the preferred church, adjust far more than just the dialect. When Heinrich Timmerevers uncovered out in 2016 that he would come to be the Catholic bishop of Dresden-Meissen, he mentioned that at first he was “somewhat shocked”: “It was obvious to me: now you are leaving dwelling, farm and homeland and relocating to a further state.” . , Timmerevers claimed in a 2017 interview with Catholic.de. What followed was a departure, not only geographically and biographically, but also in pondering about the Church and the everyday living of faith. This Thursday, Timmerevers is celebrating his 70th birthday in Dresden.
Heinrich Timmerevers comes from a farm, he was born the second of 6 youngsters. His homeland is a Catholic enclave belonging to the diocese of Münster in an if not Protestant area. He remaining her by itself to examine theology in Münster, with a shorter detour to Freiburg im Breisgau, a spirituality system for the Focolare Motion in Rome and from 1984 to 1990 as deputy director of the Collegium Borromaeum in Münster, exactly where upcoming candidates for the priesthood reside. Timmerevers then returned to Visbek as a pastor, where by he experienced currently worked as a chaplain immediately after his ordination in 1980.
As auxiliary bishop of Munster he was the “Moor pope”
In 2001 he was appointed auxiliary bishop and at the identical time the bishop of Münster Reinhard Lettmann appointed him head of the official district of Oldenburg. The Reduced Saxony part of the Diocese of Münster is mostly impartial in terms of ecclesiastical plan on the basis of a special authorized composition in the world. The auxiliary bishop in Vechta consequently has a far more powerful office environment than other auxiliary bishops. The vernacular of the diocese of Münster thus loves to discuss of the “Moor pope”.
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Bild: ©BRIAN_KINNEY – stock.adobe.com
Heinrich Timmerevers has been Bishop of Dresden-Meissen considering the fact that 2016.
It would not have amazed any individual if Timmerevers remained in this submit right up until retirement. But astonishingly, in 2016, the cathedral chapter of Dresden-Meißen elected him 50th bishop of the Saxon diocese, section of which extends as much as japanese Thuringia. Right up until these days, silence has been managed on the explanations.
Timmerevers grew and fell at the exact time: when he took up his article in Dresden, the diocese of the diaspora numbered approximately 143,000 Catholics. Earlier, he had been dependable for some 265,000 believers. The finances is now considerably more compact, whilst Dresden-Meissen is 1 of the fiscally richest dioceses in East Germany. In the ongoing discussion on fiscal help, Timmerevers switched from the donor to the receiver facet.
“I am a pupil here”
Nevertheless, what difficulties him most in his East German diocese is the entirely diverse mentality of the men and women and the character of the GDR era. Timmerevers inherited a “process of exploration” from his predecessor Heiner Koch, who right after only two and a 50 % years in Dresden turned head of the archdiocese of Berlin. On the one hand it is the official title of a structural reform of the diocese, on the other it is the personalized process of a West German who can get the job done effectively as a bishop and pastor in East Germany only if he develops a sensitivity for the East Perspectives, sensitivity and reality German.
In his early yrs in Dresden, Timmerevers recurring almost like a mantra: “I am a student below”. If you ask him today what he has acquired in the meantime, the reply is intricate. He is struck by the religious biographies of numerous East Germans “for their frankness”. The reality that at instances a single experienced to endure considerable drawbacks to one’s religion, perhaps because of to the reality that it could not be examined, that religion is not a issue of program in modern society, that was new territory for the Timmerever. Even these days he attempts to perceive as substantially of it as doable: “But I’m mindful with the interpretations, I really don’t know far too many particulars for that”.
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“What can we do so that we as a church are pertinent to the life of the people in this area?”
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What else did he learn: “In East Germany, the church was never of systemic importance. Now I see it as an benefit, because the debates about the reduction of their ‘systemic relevance’ are at the moment costing a whole lot of electrical power to the dioceses of Germany. Western, “states Timmerever. “Here, nonetheless, I ask: What can we do so that we as a church are suitable to the life of the men and women in this area?” A issue for which there are no patent solutions and which concerns him. Nevertheless, he is quite hesitant to make statements on socio-political developments, which in Saxony are not often pleasurable, even if or maybe due to the fact the difficulty of suitable-wing populism also extends to parishes.
“Truth is more robust than any thought of a church or of lifestyle”
Last but not least, Timmerevers formulates yet another instinct of modern many years: “Reality is stronger than any thought of church or of existence”. Conferences with homosexual Christians in his diocese have produced him an open supporter of their issues, these kinds of as the blessing of homosexual unions.
In working with abuse instances, Timmerevers – like quite a few of his brothers in demand – has not always revealed a skillful hand. However, he imagined pretty meticulously when the Münster abuse report was not too long ago published: “Looking again, it gets to be clear to me: I grew up in a process of silence.” Regarding his get the job done as auxiliary bishop, he mentioned: “I regret my lack of consideration.” That is why he significantly considers it his duty to add to alter. “Right now I can say with a distinctive situation that it isn’t going to function that way.” Particularly the perspective of these who have been abused “has taught them a whole lot in a lot of conversations”.
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By Karin Wollschläger (KNA)
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