50 years – and a bit wiser


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50 years ago – on July 25, 1958,
I was ordained as a priest by Cardinal Dr Lorenz Jaeger
archbishop of Paderborn
in the Great Cathedral of Paderborn
along with 40 additional young men.


It was a great celebration -
the Holy Mother Church knows how to do that -
and we were all –
as you say so nicely today – highly motivated.
I was a priest for 7 years
as a vicar for 2 parishes.
Then I decided to drop this profession.

Why

You have your experiences
– and they usually don’t happen overnight
– they grow – here are a few of the not so good ones.

The arrogance of the Church
– which claims – even today
- to be the only saviour the assumption of a person
– of a pope - in belief
- and moral doctrines
– to be infallible
- which already was in individual cases
evidentially not the case - the statement


All people are burdened
by original sin as of birth
through the first parents – Adam and Eve
– and that only through Jesus – the son of God -
can this guilt can only be redeemed through baptisms
and the death of the son of God on the cross.



God exists only as a Father and a Son
- there are no Mother or Daughter as God
The „Holy Ghost“ is a relatively blurred
and somehow not really fitting divine person –
unfortunately also a rather unhappy translation
of „to pneuma“ in „spiritus“ and „the ghost“
„To hagion pneuma“ only means
„the holy breath“ whereas breathing or breath
mean life Unfortunately,
the Greek neutral `to` became the masculine `the` in Latin.

And then over the course of history,
hundreds of theologians thought about it and speculated

There was and still is – sadly – again and again
the spying of `deeply religious` people.
Once I wrote in an open letter to the editor
that the bishop should be married only once –
that this is written clearly and unmistakeably
in one of the books of the `New Testament`-

Now the overseer is to be
above reproach, faithful to his wife,
temperate, self-controlled, respectable,
hospitable, able to teach,
not given to drunkenness,
not violent but gentle,
not quarrelsome, not a lover of money.
He must manage his own family well
and see that his children obey him,
and he must do so in a manner worthy of full respect. 1 Tim 3: 2-4

I was summoned because of many letters to the Cardinal
– he couldn’t understand – as he outright admitted to me.

After all,
it took 1200 years
until a few letters were changed around
and – at one point – became – at no point -
In the german language:
" einmal - keinmal "
" once - not once "
And this again was 800 years ago.

The Church is an elective monarchy.
A small council of mostly old men
more often than not votes for an old man to be Pope
– an age at which others have retired.
A voluntary abdication is not foreseen.
Regular parsons are encouraged to abdicate
as of their 70th year in their life

.

In age, you can succumb to the dangers of overly large fear.
But fear is a bad companion.

Surprise

The pope abdicates -
at the 28.2.2012




The institutional church
demanded freedom from others
at any given opportunity.
This is not so in the church’s own rows.
Those who don’t conform
– is dismissed without mercy.
I experienced this myself.
As of February 1, 1966, there was no more money,
no temporary allowance, nothing.
Social cushion –
in this Christian church
– an alien concept.
Since then, I don’t pay the church tax anymore.

At the opening of the council in 1962,
a 20 year old from my parish said
that `despite intense consultations,
you don’t get any satisfactory results`
I didn’t think this possible back then.
He should be in the right – sadly.

A really good experience was
that - we were taught to meditate.
Every morning before mass,
we 30 minutes time to meditate.
I maintain this practice still today.
And – I learnt to express my thoughts and feelings
– as far as possible – in words.
I had to preach every Sunday –
and that was a part of it.

The decision to stop practicing this profession was not easy.
For my parents and my sibling
it was a difficult time as well.

Then I studied education
for the subjects of sports, physics, chemistry and German.
This is where I met my wife.
We were married on December 26, 1969
by an evangelistical theology professor
in an evangelical church
.
We had three children – 2 girls and 1 boy.
Sadly, my wife died
of cancer on August 13, 1999 at the age of 56.
Our eldest daughter
is an evangelical pastor since 2001
– her husband is a pastor as well.
They share their work – they live nearby.

The experiences I had in the Church made
me listen attentively to all promises
made by large national and international groups
– from the medical insurance companies
and the government
to the overly powerful internationally operating groups
and all promise only the best for us.

When we vote,
we lose some of our power
and many people are then helpless
at the mercy
of their elected representatives.

But the very big ones
– the ones at the top –
we don’t even know them
we cannot elect them.
They don’t want to be voted in
and especially not voted out.
To have a lot of power
and to exert a lot ofpower.


And to earn indecent
amounts of money at that
- that is like a drug.
And who’s going to give that up voluntarily.



Today, I live in freedom and love
with all the means and opportunities
that I have left.
I am expanding
my knowledge and am deepening my feelings
toward myself,
toward the people close to me,
to the world that surrounds me,
to the universe to which we all belong.
I am mindful of my life.
It is a magnificent gift.
I would consider myself
an optimistic realist
or a realistic optimist.

These are my thoughts
on the 50th anniversary
of my being ordained as a priest.



I wish everyone – who reads this -
a healthy body, mind and soul
and relaxing and happy growing.

All the best Albert


Photo captions:
1. The Great Cathedral in Paderborn
2. I am in the 2nd row on the left
3. The Adam and Eve house in Paderborn – carved into oak -
Adam and Eve at the so-called Fall of Man
4.The crucifixion group was carved
in 1945 in "La Fleche" by a German POW
in a French concentration camp.
A reminder of my father – the group is 12cm high.
5. Sculpture of a "Pontifex Maximus" - "a Pope" -
by Ralf Zickermann
6. Different bank notes in candle light
7. A view onto the Marienkirche in Pirna
8. Elbe ferry in Rathen


Text an Fotos by Albert Jäger
Translation by Tamara Girke