Lorenz Jaeger (23 September 1892 – 1 April 1975) was a German cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church, who served as

Archbishop of Paderborn The Metropolitan Archdiocese of Paderborn () is a Latin Church archdiocese of the Catholic Church in Germany; its seat is Paderborn.

from 1941 to 1973, and was elevated to the

cardinalate The College of Cardinals (), also called the Sacred College of Cardinals, is the body of all cardinals of the Catholic Church. there are cardinals, of whom are eligible to vote in a conclave to elect a new pope. Appointed by the pope, ...

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, LMU or LMU Munich; ) is a public university, public research university in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. Originally established as the University of Ingolstadt in 1472 by Duke ...

Ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are Consecration in Christianity, consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the religious denomination, denominationa ...

on 1 April 1922, he then did

pastoral The pastoral genre of literature, art, or music depicts an idealised form of the shepherd's lifestyle – herding livestock around open areas of land according to the seasons and the changing availability of water and pasture. The target au ...

work in Paderborn until 1926. He taught at ''Studenrat Herne'' in

Westphalia Westphalia (; ; ) 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 region is almost identical with the h ...

(1926–1933) and at ''Hindenburg Realgymnasium'' in

Dortmund Dortmund (; ; ) is the third-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia, after Cologne and Düsseldorf, and the List of cities in Germany by population, ninth-largest city in Germany. With a population of 614,495 inhabitants, it is the largest city ...

(1933–1939). During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, he served as a military chaplain from 1939 to 1941. On 10 August 1941, Jaeger was appointed

Archbishop of Paderborn The Metropolitan Archdiocese of Paderborn () is a Latin Church archdiocese of the Catholic Church in Germany; its seat is Paderborn.

Pope Pius XII Pope Pius XII (; born Eugenio Maria Giuseppe Giovanni Pacelli; 2 March 18769 October 1958) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 2 March 1939 until his death on 9 October 1958. He is the most recent p ...

. He received his

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

on the following 19 October from Archbishop

Cesare Orsenigo Cesare Vincenzo Orsenigo (13 December 1873 – 1 April 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 A consecrator is a bishop who ordains someone to the episcopacy. A co-consecrator is someone who assists the consecrator bishop in the act of ordaining a new bishop. The terms are used in the canon law of the Catholic Church, Lutheran Churche ...

. 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 and most recent ecumenical council of the Catholic Church. The council met each autumn from 1962 to 1965 in St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City for session ...

, 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 th ...

serving as his ''

peritus ''Peritus'' (Latin for "expert"; plural ''periti'') is the title given to Roman Catholic theologians attending an ecumenical council to give advice. At the Second Vatican Council (also known as 'Vatican II'), some ''periti'' accompanied indivi ...

'', 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 (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 until his death on 6 August 1978. Succeeding John XXII ...

created him

Cardinal Priest A cardinal is a senior member of the clergy of the Catholic Church. As titular members of the clergy of the Diocese of Rome, they serve as advisors to the pope, who is the bishop of Rome and the visible head of the worldwide Catholic Church. Ca ...

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 conclave A conclave is a gathering of the College of Cardinals convened to appoint the pope of the Catholic Church. Catholics consider the pope to be the apostolic successor of Saint Peter and the earthly head of the Catholic Church. Concerns around ...

s, an opportunity which he never received. The Cardinal resigned as

Paderborn Paderborn (; Westphalian language, Westphalian: ''Patterbuorn'', also ''Paterboärn'') is a city in eastern North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, capital of the Paderborn (district), Paderborn district. The name of the city derives from the river Pade ...

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

ecumenist Ecumenism ( ; alternatively spelled oecumenism)also called interdenominationalism, or ecumenicalismis the concept and principle that Christians who belong to different Christian denominations should work together to develop closer relationships ...

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

Augustin Bea Augustin Bea (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 of Pop ...

, the Secretariat for Promoting Christian Unity in the

Roman Curia The Roman Curia () comprises the administrative institutions of the Holy See and the central body through which the affairs of the Catholic Church are conducted. The Roman Curia is the institution of which the Roman Pontiff ordinarily makes use ...

.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 Catholic archbishops 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