ROME/GERMANY, mda. Fr Michael Gerber (43) of the Institute of Schoenstatt Diocesan Priests, was today, 12 June, appointed Auxiliary Bishop in the Archdiocese of Freiburg by Pope Francis. He will be consecrated Bishop on 8 September, the anniversary of the dedication of “all of our shrine” in Belmonte at the International Schoenstatt Centre in Rome, for which the new Auxiliary Bishop has borne special responsibility at the request of his community.
Born in 1970 in Oberkirch, the new Auxiliary Bishop has chosen Tecum in foedere – In Covenant with You – as his episcopal motto. It indicates the essential theme of his theological thinking and pastoral approach, as the press release explained, and points to the covenant of love and covenant culture in his service to the Church and people. “Many people feel that the task that we are faced with is actually overwhelming. This experience id also true for a bishop. The trust in God gives us the strength to take the next step,” Michael Gerber explained about his motto. He pointed to the Second Vatican Council the re-explained the idea of Communio, “The working of the individual charisms, services and offices in the Church can become fruitful when the original calling of each is discovered as an enrichment for all.”
Gift and Task on the way to 2014
“It is a great gift and obligation for us; it requires our solidarity in prayer”, remarked Sr M. Paz Leiva of Madrid in an initial reaction, which is similar to that made by many members of the Schoenstatt Movement in Germany, Austria, Argentina, Chile and the USA in the first hours after the announcement. Schoenstatters all over the world know Michael Gerber from visits to Belmonte, info letters and countless articles in schoenstatt.org. In February this year he wrote about the intiative to collect the thanksgiving of the worldwide Schoenstatt Family to Pope Benedict XVI in the shrine at Belmonte.
Our sincere congratulation to the new Auxiliary Bishop and his community – and the assurance of our prayers in covenant solidarity!
All of us in Father’s Exile land (Wisconsin) join in congratulating Fr. Gerber on his appointment by Pope Francis. We pledge to keep him in prayer so that he will be successful in all his spiritual endeavors for the Blessed Mother, Schoenstatt and the Catholic Church.
May the Holy Spirit constantly guide him in the new challenges he will face in the future.