Lorenz Jaeger (23 September 1892 – 1 April 1975) was a German cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church, who served as Archbishop of Paderborn from 1941 to 1973, and was elevated to the

cardinalate The College of Cardinals, or more formally the Sacred College of Cardinals, is the body of all cardinals of the Catholic Church. its current membership is , of whom are eligible to vote in a conclave to elect a new pope. Cardinals are appoi ...

in 1965.

Biography

Lorenz Jaeger was born in Halle, and studied at the Academy of Paderborn and

University of Munich The Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (simply University of Munich or LMU; german: Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München) is a public research university in Munich, Germany. It is Germany's sixth-oldest university in continuous operatio ...

Ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the denominational hierarchy composed of other clergy) to perform ...

on 1 April 1922, he then did pastoral work in Paderborn until 1926. He taught at ''Studenrat Herne'' in

Westphalia Westphalia (; german: Westfalen ; nds, Westfalen ) is a region of northwestern Germany and one of the three historic parts of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It has an area of and 7.9 million inhabitants. The territory of the regio ...

(1926–1933) and at ''Hindenburg Realgymnasium'' in Dortmund (1933–1939). During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, he served as a military chaplain from 1939 to 1941. On 10 August 1941, Jaeger was appointed Archbishop of Paderborn by Pope Pius XII. He received his

episcopal consecration A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

on the following 19 October from Archbishop

Cesare Orsenigo Cesare Vincenzo Orsenigo (December 13, 1873 – April 1, 1946) was Apostolic Nuncio to Germany from 1930 to 1945, during the rise of Nazi Germany and World War II. Along with the German ambassador to the Vatican, Diego von Bergen and later Ernst v ...

, with Bishops Joseph Machens and Augustus Baumann serving as co-consecrators. From 1962 to 1965, Jaeger attended the

Second Vatican Council The Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the , or , was the 21st ecumenical council of the Roman Catholic Church. The council met in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome for four periods (or sessions), each lasting between 8 and ...

, with

Heribert Mühlen Heribert Mühlen (April 27, 1927 – May 25, 2006) was a German Roman-Catholic theologian. He was born in Mönchengladbach, studied in Bonn, Freiburg, Rome, Innsbruck, Münster und Munich, and was priest since 1955. Since 1962 Mühlen taught at the ...

serving as his ''

peritus ''Peritus'' (Latin for "expert") is the title given to Roman Catholic theologians attending an ecumenical council to give advice. At the Second Vatican Council, some ''periti'' (the plural form) accompanied individual bishops or groups of bisho ...

'', or theological expert. The Archbishop claimed that the Church had come to the "end of the Constantinian era," and needed to update the presentation of its teachings as time progressed.

Pope Paul VI Pope Paul VI ( la, Paulus VI; it, Paolo VI; born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini, ; 26 September 18976 August 1978) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 21 June 1963 to his death in Augus ...

created him

Cardinal Priest A cardinal ( la, Sanctae Romanae Ecclesiae cardinalis, literally 'cardinal of the Holy Roman Church') is a senior member of the clergy of the Catholic Church. Cardinals are created by the ruling pope and typically hold the title for life. Col ...

of '' San Leone I'' in the

consistory Consistory is the anglicized form of the consistorium, a council of the closest advisors of the Roman emperors. It can also refer to: *A papal consistory, a formal meeting of the Sacred College of Cardinals of the Roman Catholic Church * Consistor ...

of 22 February 1965. Jäger later sat on the commission of cardinals instructed to examine the Dutch Catechism for theological orthodoxy. Upon reaching the age of 80 on 23 September 1972, he lost the right to participate in any future papal conclaves, an opportunity which he never received. The Cardinal resigned as

Paderborn Paderborn (; Westphalian: ''Patterbuorn'', also ''Paterboärn'') is a city in eastern North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, capital of the Paderborn district. The name of the city derives from the river Pader and ''Born'', an old German term for t ...

's archbishop on 30 June 1973, after thirty-one years of service. A dedicated

ecumenist Ecumenism (), also spelled oecumenism, is the concept and principle that Christians who belong to different Christian denominations should work together to develop closer relationships among their churches and promote Christian unity. The adjec ...

, Jäger founded the Johann Adam Möhler Ecumenical Institute (named after the German theologian) and helped establish, along with

Augustin Bea Augustin Bea, S.J. (28 May 1881 – 16 November 1968), was a German Jesuit priest, cardinal, and scholar at the Pontifical Gregorian University, specialising in biblical studies and biblical archaeology. He also served as the personal confessor ...

, the

Secretariat for Promoting Christian Unity The Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity, previously named the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity (PCPCU), is a dicastery whose origins are associated with the Second Vatican Council which met intermittently from 1962 to 1965. Po ...

in the Roman Curia.German Bishops' Conference
Ecumenism
Jäger died in Paderborn, at age 82. He is buried in the Metropolitan Cathedral of Paderborn.

References

External links

Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jaeger, Lorenz 1892 births 1975 deaths Participants in the Second Vatican Council Archbishops of Paderborn 20th-century German cardinals German Roman Catholics People from Halle (Saale) People from the Province of Saxony Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich alumni Cardinals created by Pope Paul VI German military chaplains World War II chaplains Grand Crosses 1st class of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany