Christian Feurstein, (born Georg Maria Feurstein; 14 October 1958 – 12 March 2017) was an

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particu ...

and

Cistercian The Cistercians, () officially the Order of Cistercians ( la, (Sacer) Ordo Cisterciensis, abbreviated as OCist or SOCist), are a Catholic religious order of monks and nuns that branched off from the Benedictines and follow the Rule of Saint ...

monk A monk (, from el, μοναχός, ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a person who practices religious asceticism by monastic living, either alone or with any number of other monks. A monk may be a person who decides to dedica ...

Heiligenkreuz Abbey Heiligenkreuz Abbey (german: Stift Heiligenkreuz; en, Abbey of the Holy Cross) is a Cistercian monastery in the village of Heiligenkreuz in the southern part of the Vienna woods, c. 13 km north-west of Baden in Lower Austria. It is the olde ...

, Stiepel Priory, Rein Abbey in

Gratwein-Straßengel Since 2015 Gratwein-Straßengel is a market town in the Graz-Umgebung District of Styria, Austria. The town took effect as part of the Styria municipal structural reform, from the end of 2014 with the merging of the former municipalities Gratwein, ...

Styria Styria (german: Steiermark ; Serbo-Croatian and sl, ; hu, Stájerország) is a state (''Bundesland'') in the southeast of Austria. With an area of , Styria is the second largest state of Austria, after Lower Austria. Styria is bordered to ...

. He served as

abbot Abbot is an ecclesiastical title given to the male head of a monastery in various Western religious traditions, including Christianity. The office may also be given as an honorary title to a clergyman who is not the head of a monastery. The fem ...

of the Rein Abbey from 2010 to 2015.

Biography

Early life and education

Georg Maria Feurstein was born on 14 October 1958 in

Hohenems Hohenems (High Alemannic: ''Ems'') is a town in the Austrian state of Vorarlberg in the Dornbirn district. It lies in the middle of the Austrian part of the Rhine valley. With a population of 15,200, it is the fifth largest municipality in Vorarlbe ...

Vorarlberg Vorarlberg ( , ; gsw, label=Vorarlbergisch, Vorarlbearg, , or ) is the westernmost States of Austria, state () of Austria. It has the second-smallest geographical area after Vienna and, although it also has the second-smallest population, it is ...

, to Guntram and Antonio Feurstein. After

graduation Graduation is the awarding of a diploma to a student by an educational institution. It may also refer to the ceremony that is associated with it. The date of the graduation ceremony is often called graduation day. The graduation ceremony is a ...

, he entered

as a novice on 15 November 1977. He studied theology at the Benedict XVI Philosophical-Theological University, which is located at the abbey, from 1977 to 1983. Taking the

religious name A religious name is a type of given name bestowed for a religious purposes, and which is generally used in such contexts. Christianity Catholic Church Baptismal name In baptism, Catholic Church, Catholics are given a Christian name, which should ...

''Christian'', he made his solemn profession on 1 November 1981, and was ordained a deacon on 26 December 1981 by Archbishop Franz Jachym. On 23 May 1983, he was ordained in Heiligenkreuz by Cardinal

Paul Augustin Mayer Paul Augustin Mayer, OSB (23 May 1911 – 30 April 2010) was a German Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. He held various positions in the Roman Curia from 1971 to 1991. Biography Mayer was born in Altötting, Germany, which is located nea ...

, OSB.

Priesthood

In 1983, Feurstein began his priestly ministry as pastor of a parish in

Wiener Neustadt Wiener Neustadt (; ; Central Bavarian: ''Weana Neistod'') is a city located south of Vienna, in the state of Lower Austria, in northeast Austria. It is a self-governed city and the seat of the district administration of Wiener Neustadt-Land Distr ...

, a position he held in 1987, and until 1988 he was an assistant teacher at Heiligenkreuz Abbey. In 1988, he was sent with three other monks to the newly reestablished Stiepel Priory in

Bochum Bochum ( , also , ; wep, Baukem) is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia. With a population of 364,920 (2016), is the sixth largest city (after Cologne, Düsseldorf, Dortmund, Essen and Duisburg) of the most populous Germany, German federal state o ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. He was subprior there from 1988 to 1991, pilgrimage director from 1988 to 2001, novice master from 1999 to 2002, and prior from 2001 to 2004. In 2004, he returned to Heiligenkreuz Abbey, where he served as prior and novice master until 2009. During his time in that position, 26 novices entered the abbey, the most in 200 years. In 2009, he once again left Heiligenkreuz, this time to live at Rein Abbey in

, Austria. On 8 June 2010, he was unanimously elected abbot, and was confirmed by the congregation on 21 June. His benediction took place on 21 August 2010, performed by Bishop

Egon Kapellari Egon is a variant of the male given name Eugene. It is most commonly found in Austria, the Czech Republic, Germany, Estonia, Hungary, Slovakia, Sweden, Denmark, and parts of the Netherlands and Belgium. The name can also be derived from the Ge ...

. As abbot, he was concerned with the stability of the monastic community and the pastoral care of the parishes the abbey is entrusted with, as well as monastery renovations and improving the abbey's financial situation. The abbey basilica was restored and renovated during his tenure. In 2013, Feurstein was accepted into the

Order of the Holy Sepulchre The Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem ( la, Ordo Equestris Sancti Sepulcri Hierosolymitani, links=yes, OESSH), also called Order of the Holy Sepulchre or Knights of the Holy Sepulchre, is a Catholic Church, Catholic order of ...

with the rank of Knight Commander with Star, and was invested by Grand Master Cardinal

Edwin Frederick O'Brien Edwin Frederick O'Brien (born April 8, 1939) is an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He has been a cardinal since 2012 and headed the Order of the Holy Sepulchre from 2011 to 2019. O'Brien served as archbishop of the Archdiocese of ...

on 21 September 2013 at the Mondsee Abbey basilica. He resigned from the office of abbot on 9 March 2015 due to his severe heart disease, and returned to Heiligenkreuz Abbey, where he spent the last two years of his life. He died on 12 March 2017 in a hospital in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

after a heart transplant. Bishop

Wilhelm Krautwaschl Wilhelm Krautwaschl (born 5 March 1963) is an Austrian Roman Catholic prelate. He has served as the bishop of Roman Catholic Diocese of Graz-Seckau, Graz-Seckau since 2015. References

1963 births Living people Place of birth missing (l ...

said about his death: "Abbot Christian was a special phenomenon in all his meetings with his kind and sympathetic charisma. We will be grateful to him for his work here in Styria." His motto was ''Christum semper ante oculos'', which is Latin for "Christ always before our eyes."

Awards and honors

Knight Commander with Star of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre (2013)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Feurstein, Christian 1958 births 2017 deaths People from Hohenems Cistercian abbots Austrian Cistercians 20th-century Austrian Roman Catholic priests Members of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre 21st-century Austrian Roman Catholic priests People from Styria Benedictine priors