Urban Federer (born 17 August 1968) is a Swiss Benedictine

prelate A prelate () is a high-ranking member of the Minister (Christianity), Christian clergy who is an Ordinary (church officer), ordinary or who ranks in precedence with ordinaries. The word derives from the Latin , the past participle of , which me ...

who has served as the abbot of

Einsiedeln Abbey Einsiedeln Abbey () is a Catholic monastery administered by the Benedictine Order in the village of Einsiedeln, Switzerland. The Abbey of Einsiedeln is one of the most important baroque monastic sites and the largest place of pilgrimage in Swit ...

and

Fahr Convent Fahr Convent () is a Benedictine convent located in an exclave of the canton of Aargau, surrounded by the municipality of Unterengstringen (canton of Zürich). It is located 8 km to the north of Zürich's city centre. Located in different ca ...

since 2013. Federer was formerly the

prior The term prior may refer to: * Prior (ecclesiastical), the head of a priory (monastery) * Prior convictions, the life history and previous convictions of a suspect or defendant in a criminal case * Prior probability, in Bayesian statistics * Prio ...

and

vicar general A vicar general (previously, archdeacon) is the principal deputy of the bishop or archbishop of a diocese or an archdiocese for the exercise of administrative authority and possesses the title of local ordinary. As vicar of the bishop, the vica ...

of Einsiedeln Abbey and the editor-in-chief of ''Salve'', the abbey's official magazine. In 2017, he was made a Knight of the Pontifical Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulcher of Jerusalem.

Early life and family

Born in

Zurich Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...

on 17 August 1968, Urban Federer is a member of the Federer family, who are part of the

Bürgergemeinde The Bürgergemeinde (also Burgergemeinde, Ortsgemeinde, Ortsbürgergemeinde, Tagwen, commune bourgeoise, vischnanca burgaisa; ) is a statutory corporation in public law in Switzerland. It includes all individuals who are citizens of the Bürgerg ...

of Berneck, St. Gallen, and is the brother of the Swiss politician

Barbara Schmid-Federer Barbara Schmid-Federer (born 10 November 1965) is a Swiss politician, educator, and philanthropist. A member of the Christian Democratic People's Party of Switzerland, she was elected to a seat in the National Council in 2007, serving until 2018 ...

. Urban Federer is the great-great-grandson of the 19th-20th century politician

Josef Zemp Josef Zemp (2 September 1834 in Entlebuch – 8 December 1908) was a Swiss politician and member of the Swiss Federal Council (1891–1908). On 17 December 1891, he was the first member of a conservative party to be elected to the Federal Council ...

, who was the first member of a conservative party to be elected to the

Federal Council of Switzerland The Federal Council is the federal Cabinet (government), cabinet of the Switzerland, Swiss Confederation. Its seven members also serve as the collective head of state and Head of government, government of Switzerland. Since World War II, the F ...

. The prelate is also related to

Ida Glanzmann-Hunkeler Ida Glanzmann (born 29 September 1958 ), is a Swiss politician and the President of The Centre 60+. From 1995 to 2006 she was a grand councilor in the legislature of the canton of Lucerne The canton of Lucerne ( ; ; ; ) is a Cantons of Swit ...

, a politician,

Heinrich Federer Heinrich Federer (6 October 1866 – 29 April 1928) was a Swiss writer and Catholic priest. Biography Federer was born on 6 October 1866 in the Bernese village of Brienz. His father, Johann Paul Federer, was a wood carver and school teacher ...

a Catholic priest, and

Roger Federer Roger Federer ( , ; born 8 August 1981) is a Swiss former professional tennis player. He was ranked as the List of ATP number 1 ranked singles tennis players, world No. 1 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for 3 ...

, the latter whose children he baptized.

Ecclesiastical career

Urban Federer attended the Einsiedeln Convent School and

Saint Meinrad Seminary and School of Theology The Saint Meinrad Seminary and School of Theology is a Roman Catholic seminary and school of theology in Saint Meinrad, Indiana. It is affiliated with the Saint Meinrad Archabbey in St. Meinrad, Indiana. The institution was named after Meinra ...

from 1985 to 1988 before joining the

Order of Saint Benedict The Benedictines, officially the Order of Saint Benedict (, abbreviated as O.S.B. or OSB), are a mainly contemplative monastic order of the Catholic Church for men and for women who follow the Rule of Saint Benedict. Initiated in 529, th ...

and beginning his novitiate at

. He made his final vows on 1 November 1992 and received the

sacrament A sacrament is a Christian rite which is recognized as being particularly important and significant. There are various views on the existence, number and meaning of such rites. Many Christians consider the sacraments to be a visible symbol ...

holy orders In certain Christian denominations, holy orders are the ordination, ordained ministries of bishop, priest (presbyter), and deacon, and the sacrament or rite by which candidates are ordained to those orders. Churches recognizing these orders inclu ...

on 11 June 1994. He studied philosophy and theology at the abbey's theological home school and completed a licentiate degree in German studies and history at the

University of Fribourg The University of Fribourg (; ) is a public university located in Fribourg, Switzerland. The roots of the university can be traced back to 1580, when the notable Jesuit Peter Canisius founded the Collège Saint-Michel in the City of Fribourg ...

. He also completed

Gregorian chant Gregorian chant is the central tradition of Western plainsong, plainchant, a form of monophony, monophonic, unaccompanied sacred song in Latin (and occasionally Greek language, Greek) of the Roman Catholic Church. Gregorian chant developed main ...

training in Germany. In 2001, Federer worked as a religion, German language, and history teacher at the abbey's grammar school. In 2007 he received his doctorate with a dissertation in medieval German studies on mystical experience in literary dialogue between Heinrich von Nördlingen and Margaretha Ebner in the 14th century. In 2010, Federer was appointed as

Prior The term prior may refer to: * Prior (ecclesiastical), the head of a priory (monastery) * Prior convictions, the life history and previous convictions of a suspect or defendant in a criminal case * Prior probability, in Bayesian statistics * Prio ...

and Vicar General of Einsiedeln Abbey. He was made editor-in-chief of the abbey's magazine, ''Salve'', and a board member of the Einsiedler Welttheater-Gesellschaft. He is also a

cantor A cantor or chanter is a person who leads people in singing or sometimes in prayer. Cantor as a profession generally refers to those leading a Jewish congregation, although it also applies to the lead singer or choir director in Christian contexts. ...

and the choral master. He was elected as

abbot Abbot is an ecclesiastical title given to the head of an independent monastery for men in various Western Christian traditions. The name is derived from ''abba'', the Aramaic form of the Hebrew ''ab'', and means "father". The female equivale ...

on 23 November 2013 by fifty-five voting monks.

Pope Francis Pope Francis (born Jorge Mario Bergoglio; 17 December 1936 – 21 April 2025) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 13 March 2013 until Death and funeral of Pope Francis, his death in 2025. He was the fi ...

confirmed his election on 10 December 2013. His inauguration took place on 22 December 2013, performed by Bishop

Markus Büchel Markus Büchel (; 14 May 1959 – 9 July 2013) was a lawyer and politician from Liechtenstein who served as Prime Minister of Liechtenstein in 1993. Serving for just under 7 months, he is the shortest serving prime minister in Liechtenstein's hi ...

. As abbot, he is also a member of the

Swiss Bishops' Conference The Swiss Bishops' Conference (SBC; ; ; ; ) is the coordinating body of the Catholic dioceses in Switzerland. It was founded in 1863 as the world's first Bishops Conference and is a member of the Council of European Bishops' Conferences. Members ...

and has jurisdiction over

. In 2017, Federer was appointed as a Knight of the Pontifical Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulcher of Jerusalem by Cardinal

Edwin Frederick O'Brien Edwin Frederick O'Brien (born April 8, 1939) is an American Catholic who headed the Order of the Holy Sepulchre from 2011 to 2019. He previously served as Archbishop of Baltimore from 2007 to 2011 and as Archbishop of the Military Services ...

and was invested into the order on 18 March 2017 at

Abbey of Saint-Maurice d'Agaune The Abbey of Saint Maurice, Agaunum ( or ''Saint-Maurice-en-Valais'') is a Swiss monastery of canons regular in Saint-Maurice, Canton of Valais, which dates from the 6th century. It is situated against a cliff in a section of the road between Ge ...

by Bishop Pier Giacomo Grampa.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Federer, Urban Living people 1968 births 20th-century Swiss Roman Catholic priests 21st-century Swiss Roman Catholic priests Benedictine priors Choristers

Urban Urban means "related to a city". In that sense, the term may refer to: * Urban area, geographical area distinct from rural areas * Urban culture, the culture of towns and cities Urban may also refer to: General * Urban (name), a list of people ...

Members of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre Clergy from Zurich Swiss abbots Swiss Benedictines Swiss magazine editors University of Fribourg alumni