Clemens Pickel (, born 17 August 1961 in

Colditz Colditz () is a small town in the district of Leipzig (district), Leipzig, in Saxony, Germany. It is best known for Colditz Castle, the site of the Oflag IV-C prisoner-of-war camp, POW camp for officers in World War II. Geography Colditz is situa ...

Bezirk Leipzig The Bezirk Leipzig was a district (''Bezirk'') of East Germany that would last from 1952 to 1990. Leipzig would be reabsorbed into Saxony after the reunification of Germany. The administrative seat and the main town was Leipzig. History The dist ...

East Germany East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from Foundation of East Germany, its formation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on ...

) is a German-Russian Roman Catholic prelate, and Bishop of

Saratov Saratov ( , ; , ) is the largest types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and administrative center of Saratov Oblast, Russia, and a major port on the Volga River. Saratov had a population of 901,361, making it the List of cities and tow ...

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

. Pickel is the current chairman of the Episcopal Conference of Russia.

Education

From 1968 till 1978 he learned at school, in 1978–1981 in the pre-seminary «Norbertinum» in Magdeburg. In 1981–1986 Pickel studied at the Graduate Theological Seminary "St. Albert the Great" in Erfurt, in 1987/1988 in the pastoral seminary in

Neuzelle Neuzelle (, ) is a Municipalities of Germany, municipality in the Oder-Spree district of Brandenburg, Germany, the administrative seat of ''Amt (country subdivision), Amt'' (collective municipality) Neuzelle (Amt), Neuzelle. It is best known for C ...

Priesthood

Pickel was ordained a deacon on 19 December 1987, and a priest on 25 June 1988. From 1988–1990 he was vicar of the parish of St. Mary Magdalene in the town

Kamenz Kamenz () or Kamjenc ( Sorbian, ) is a town (''Große Kreisstadt'') in the district of Bautzen in Saxony, Germany. Until 2008 it was the administrative seat of Kamenz District. The town is known as the birthplace of the philosopher and poet Gotth ...

(

Saxony Saxony, officially the Free State of Saxony, is a landlocked state of Germany, bordering the states of Brandenburg, Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia, and Bavaria, as well as the countries of Poland and the Czech Republic. Its capital is Dresden, and ...

). On 1 August 1990 he was released for pastoral work in the USSR. From 1990 he was engaged in pastoral activities in the territory of former Soviet republics. In 1990/1991 he worked as vicar in the parishes in

Tajikistan Tajikistan, officially the Republic of Tajikistan, is a landlocked country in Central Asia. Dushanbe is the capital city, capital and most populous city. Tajikistan borders Afghanistan to the Afghanistan–Tajikistan border, south, Uzbekistan to ...

(

Dushanbe Dushanbe is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Tajikistan. , Dushanbe had a population of 1,564,700, with this population being largely Tajiks, Tajik. Until 1929, the city was known in Russian as Dyushambe, and from 1929 to 1961 as St ...

, Kurgan-Tyube, Vakhsh). From 1991 the rector of the parish of Christ the King in Marx. From 1992 to 1998 he was dean in the Pavolskaga region, since 1998 member of the Apostolic Administration of priests to Catholics of Latin rite of the European part of Russia. On 23 March 1998 Pope

John Paul II Pope John Paul II (born Karol Józef Wojtyła; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 16 October 1978 until Death and funeral of Pope John Paul II, his death in 2005. In his you ...

appointed him Titular Bishop Husyry. Episcopal ordination was on 7 June 1998 in Marks, when he became the youngest bishop in Europe. On 23 November 1999 Apostolic Administrator of the South European part of Russia. From 1999 Member of the Conference of Catholic Bishops of Russia, Chairman of the Commission on Affairs of the parishioners, and youth movements and the Commission KKER "pastoral – a vocation." Since 2001 he is a member of the Pontifical Council "Cor unum". On 11 February 2002 he became bishop of the Diocese of Saint Clement in Saratov. On 15 December 2003 Pickel finally got a residence permit in Russia.

External links

* http://www.sibgerold.ru/circ_Pikkel.php * https://web.archive.org/web/20030920233537/http://religion.ng.ru/printed/facts/2002-06-19/6_nationality.html * http://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/bishop/bpickel.html * https://web.archive.org/web/20050505115215/http://www.strana.ru/stories/02/04/22/2780/169727.html * https://web.archive.org/web/20071216111303/http://www.cecr.ru/conf/southern.php * http://www.kathtube.com/player.php?id=7775 * http://www.kath-ru.blogspot.com.br {{DEFAULTSORT:Pickel, Clemens 21st-century Roman Catholic bishops in Russia Living people 1961 births People from Colditz German expatriates in Russia German expatriate bishops 21st-century German Roman Catholic bishops