SWITZERLAND, mkf. On March 26, 2009, he celebrated the 70th Anniversary of his priestly ordination with the brothers of his community. He was the oldest Schoenstatt Father, and he was a witness to many events in Schoenstatt history, which are still being studied. On July 23, 2009 he died at the age of 97.
Father Emil Eigenmann was born in Gossau (Saint Gallen), and he was ordained as a priest in the community of the Pallotine Fathers in 1939. The first tasks he performed, which were mentioned in his obituary written by Father Edwin Germann, were as a professor in Ebikon and as rector in Freiburg. In 1947 he was chosen as provincial Superior of the Swiss Pallotine Province. In 1959, after serving for two terms, he became rector of the St. Klemens Seminary for late vocations at Ebikon.
In 1964 when the Church legally separated the Schoenstatt Work from the Society of the Pallotine Fathers, and with the founding of the Schoenstatt Institute of Priests in 1965, he began a new stage of his life, like many others who had entered the Society of the Pallotine Fathers because of Schoenstatt, or who as members of this community had placed themselves at the service of Schoenstatt and its mission. After the process of separation from the Pallotines, Father Emil Eigenmann took charge of the administration of the Schoenstatt Fathers in Switzerland.
Very quickly he became a part of the international administration the obituary continued, from 1973 to 1987, he was rector of the General House and was a member of the General Administration at Schoenstatt. The Schoenstatt Fathers from the United States and Poland were especially entrusted to him.
In 1987 he returned to Switzerland, and he lived at the Provincial House, which was built in the ‘70’s – on Mount Zion, in Horw; from there, he carried out several auxiliary tasks. Furthermore, a very special work was maturing: God gave him the spiritual vigor to document in writing everything that he experienced and suffered as superior of both communities; in this way. he left a personal testimony of this era.
During his last years, Father Emil had to set aside more and more of his tasks. He had to curtail his usual trips, because he was slowly losing his vision and hearing. His provincial superior gave a beautiful testimony about him: “Until the end, he was always a kind and attentive co-brother. His loyalty, his good humor, and his dignity through his most advanced age are the last and most precious inheritance he has left us.” Father Emil Eignmann was buried on July 29th at the cemetery of Horw in the section of the Schoenstatt Fathers.
Translation: Celina Garza, San Antonio, USA/amj
