Bargil Pixner (March 23, 1921 – April 5, 2002) was an ethnically German Italian-American monk of the

Order of Saint Benedict , image = Medalla San Benito.PNG , caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal , abbreviation = OSB , formation = , motto = (English: 'Pray and Work') , foun ...

, Biblical scholar and archaeologist, and commentator on the

Dead Sea Scrolls The Dead Sea Scrolls (also the Qumran Caves Scrolls) are ancient Jewish and Hebrew religious manuscripts discovered between 1946 and 1956 at the Qumran Caves in what was then Mandatory Palestine, near Ein Feshkha in the West Bank, on the ...

Biography

Pixner was born in 1921, the first of eight children, in Untermais,

Merano Merano (, , ) or Meran () is a city and ''comune'' in South Tyrol, northern Italy. Generally best known for its spa resorts, it is located within a basin, surrounded by mountains standing up to above sea level, at the entrance to the Passeier ...

South Tyrol it, Provincia Autonoma di Bolzano – Alto Adige lld, Provinzia Autonoma de Balsan/Bulsan – Südtirol , settlement_type = Autonomous area, Autonomous Provinces of Italy, province , image_skyline = ...

. He started his study of theology in 1940 in

Brixen Brixen (, ; it, Bressanone ; lld, Porsenù or ) is a town in South Tyrol, northern Italy, located about north of Bolzano. Geography First mentioned in 901, Brixen is the third largest city and oldest town in the province, and the artistic an ...

and joined the

Saint Joseph's Missionary Society of Mill Hill The Mill Hill Missionaries (MHM), officially known as the Saint Joseph's Missionary Society of Mill Hill ( la, Societas Missionariorum S. Ioseph de Mill Hill), is a Catholic society of apostolic life founded in 1866 by Herbert Alfred Vaughan, MH ...

's Tyrolean branch in 1941. 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 ...

, Pixner was sent to the Eastern Front in 1944 after refusing to take an oath of allegiance to

Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...

, but he escaped from

Silesia Silesia (, also , ) is a historical region of Central Europe that lies mostly within Poland, with small parts in the Czech Republic and Germany. Its area is approximately , and the population is estimated at around 8,000,000. Silesia is split ...

in May 1945. Pixner was ordained a priest in 1946 in Brixen immediately prior to leaving for missionary work in the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

, where he headed a

leprosy Leprosy, also known as Hansen's disease (HD), is a long-term infection by the bacteria ''Mycobacterium leprae'' or ''Mycobacterium lepromatosis''. Infection can lead to damage of the nerves, respiratory tract, skin, and eyes. This nerve damag ...

centre in

Santa Barbara, Iloilo Santa Barbara, officially the Municipality of Santa Barbara ( hil, Banwa sang Santa Barbara, tgl, Bayan ng Santa Barbara), is a 2nd class municipality in the province of Iloilo, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of ...

for the next eight years. He later worked in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

, Italy, and the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

, becoming a

US citizen Citizenship of the United States is a legal status that entails Americans with specific rights, duties, protections, and benefits in the United States. It serves as a foundation of fundamental rights derived from and protected by the Constituti ...

. In May 1969, Pixner moved to

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

, co-founding

Neve Shalom Neve Shalom ( he, נְוֵה שָׁלוֹם, ''lit.'' Oasis of Peace), also known as Wāħat as-Salām ( ar, واحة السلام) is a cooperative village in Israel, jointly founded by Israeli Jews and Arabs in an attempt to show that the two p ...

, a peace village, located near the biblical

Emmaus Emmaus (; Greek: Ἐμμαούς, ''Emmaous''; la, Emmaus; , ''Emmaom''; ar, عمواس, ''ʻImwas'') is a town mentioned in the Gospel of Luke of the New Testament. Luke reports that Jesus appeared, after his death and resurrection, before tw ...

, and entered the

in 1972, taking his final vows at the Abbey of the Dormition in

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

in 1974. Pixner spent the next twelve years organizing the construction of an affiliated abbey at

Tabgha Tabgha ( ar, الطابغة, ''al-Tabigha''; he, עין שבע, ''Ein Sheva'' which means "spring of seven") is an area situated on the north-western shore of the Sea of Galilee in Israel and a depopulated Palestinian village. It is traditiona ...

before returning to Hagia Maria Sion Abbey in 1994 and then serving as a prior. Pixner gave tours of the Holy Land to famous pilgrims such as

Jimmy Carter James Earl Carter Jr. (born October 1, 1924) is an American politician who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served as the 76th governor of Georgia from 1 ...

and

Helmut Kohl Helmut Josef Michael Kohl (; 3 April 1930 – 16 June 2017) was a German politician who served as Chancellor of Germany from 1982 to 1998 and Leader of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) from 1973 to 1998. Kohl's 16-year tenure is the longes ...

.Corley, Felix. 2002, May 17.
Obituary: Fr Bargil Pixner
" ''The Independent''.

Theories

Pixner's theories, linking archaeological sites to events and figures in the

Bible The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts ...

, have been met with mixed acceptance by scholars. In particular, he argued for a connection between

Jesus Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label= Hebrew/ Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religiou ...

and the

Essenes The Essenes (; Hebrew: , ''Isiyim''; Greek: Ἐσσηνοί, Ἐσσαῖοι, or Ὀσσαῖοι, ''Essenoi, Essaioi, Ossaioi'') were a mystic Jewish sect during the Second Temple period that flourished from the 2nd century BCE to the 1st ce ...

and for the identification of the "Essene Gateway" (excavated beginning in 1977) on Mount Zion, and the dating of the crucifixion to Friday, April 7, AD 30. He shared Bagatti and Testa's thesis of a Church of Zion, Jerusalem in the 3rd–4th Centuries. Pixner also identified a site on the north shore of the Sea of Galilee as the site of Bethsaida in a 1985 article, an identification which the State of Israel made official in 1989 after excavations in 1987. Pixner showed the site to

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...

in March 2000, declaring a key excavated from the site to be the "key to the first Vatican." The tell had previously been dismissed by

William F. Albright William Foxwell Albright (May 24, 1891– September 19, 1971) was an American archaeologist, biblical scholar, philologist, and expert on ceramics. He is considered "one of the twentieth century's most influential American biblical scholars." ...

in the 1930s as a potential site for Bethsaida, but Pixner discovered

Hellenistic In Classical antiquity, the Hellenistic period covers the time in Mediterranean history after Classical Greece, between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the emergence of the Roman Empire, as signified by the Battle of Actium in ...

and

Roman 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 ...

artefacts while walking through Syrian trenches after the

Six-Day War The Six-Day War (, ; ar, النكسة, , or ) or June War, also known as the 1967 Arab–Israeli War or Third Arab–Israeli War, was fought between Israel and a coalition of Arab states (primarily Egypt, Syria, and Jordan) from 5 to 10 Ju ...

.Shapiro, Haim. 1998, May 14. "Where 'he walked upon the water.'" ''The Jerusalem Post''.

Works

* 1986. ''Glory of Bethlehem''. Judson Press. * 1992. ''With Jesus Through Galilee: According to the Fifth Gospel''. Corazin Publishing. * 1996. ''With Jesus In Jerusalem: His First and Last Days in Judea''. Corazin Publishing. * 1991. ''Paths of the Messiah And Sites of the Early Church from Galilee to Jerusalem''. Ignatius.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pixner, Bargil 1921 births 2002 deaths 20th-century Italian Roman Catholic priests Italian Roman Catholic missionaries Italian Benedictines Italian biblical scholars American biblical scholars Italian archaeologists Dead Sea Scrolls Italian people of Austrian descent Germanophone Italian people Italian expatriates in the Philippines Italian expatriates in France American expatriates in Israel Italian expatriates in Israel People from Merano Roman Catholic missionaries in the Philippines 20th-century American Roman Catholic priests 20th-century archaeologists