A bishop for Europe

Born on 1st August 1929, Josef Homeyer obtained a doctorate of philosophy with a thesis on “The development and the fundamental concepts of sociology”. Ordained priest in 1958, he was general secretary of the German Bishops’ Conference from 1972 to 1983, when John Paul II nominated him Bishop of Hildesheim. When he reached the age of 75 in 2004, he resigned from the diocese, but continued until 2006 his term as President of the Commission of the Bishops’ Conferences of Europe (COMECE), a post to which he was elected in 1993. Numerous are the tasks he performed within the German Bishops’ Conference. Bishop Homeyer suddenly died in Hildesheim on 30 March. Builder of bridges. “I am saddened by the loss of this great pastor and builder of bridges”, wrote Archbishop Robert Zollitsch, President of the German Bishops’ conference, in a letter to the Bishop of Hildesheim Norbert Trelle. “To this day we benefit from the results of his work of reorganizing the general secretariat of the Bishops’ Conference”, commented Zollitsch. “His generosity, his dedication, his humour and his great will power struck everyone. He was a strenuous supporter of the social engagement of the Church; he defended the process called ‘The social and political situation in Germany’ which he himself had launched”. Zollitsch also recalls Bishop Homeyer’s dedication to Eastern Europe: “His contacts with the Orthodox Churches formed part of his commitment. To the very end of his life he supported the new freedom of the Churches in the Balkans”. Bishop Norbert Trelle wrote in his tribute: “Together with the whole diocese, I lament the loss of a man who left his mark on our diocese as few of his predecessors have done; I lament a great European and a person with a big heart, who was for me both a friend and a counsellor”. Bishop Homeyer – his successor recalls – “worked strenuously for the reconciliation between Polish and German bishops. Nothing saddened him more than contempt for the rich culture of Eastern Europe that he profoundly loved and esteemed”.Promoter of integration. The Church of Europe, with the death of Josef Homeyer, “loses one of its more fervent promoters” while Europe “for her part loses a great European”: Bishop Adrianus van Luyn of Rotterdam, President of COMECE, recalls in these terms his illustrious predecessor. He emphasizes “the tireless commitment of Mgr. Homeyer “for a more effective presence of the Bishops’ Conferences in the European institutions”, with a particularly attentive eye “for the countries of Central and Eastern Europe” to prepare them, also with the support of the Churches, for membership of the EU, which took place in 2004. “The challenge of wedding freedom with solidarity and sense of responsibility in political, social and economic life formed the connecting thread of his years as President of COMECE”. Assertor of “the ecumenical imperative”. Bishop Homeyer was “a leader capable of combining faith and politics, faith and social responsibility”, said the Irish Bishop Noel Treanor (who served for 15 years as general secretary of COMECE before becoming Bishop of Down and Connor in 2008) in a tribute to SIR Europe. “Mgr. Homeyer always emphasized the ecumenical imperative incumbent on the Churches in a Europe that was in the process of becoming united. His annual visits to an Orthodox patriarchate were rooted in the conviction that the two lungs of Europe must breathe in harmony. He also defended the contribution of interfaith dialogue for the definition of Europe”, continued Bishop Treanor. “Perhaps he was unique in this sensibility to all the Churches of Central and Eastern Europe. Moreover, he also understood how important it is to collaborate with the other structures of the Bishops’ Conferences, both with the CCEE in Europe, and with those of the other continents”. “Convinced of the essential contribution of Christian faith to the realization of the European project, Mgr. Homeyer posed as his objective – said Treanor – the institutionalization of dialogue between Churches and EU. Declaration N°11 of the Treaty of Amsterdam (1996) and Article 1-52 of the Constitutional Treaty are in large part the fruit of his regular discussions with European political leaders. By striving in this way to fill a constitutional gap in the treaties, Mgr. Homeyer did not try to claim any privileges for the Churches”. A European pilgrim. Mgr. Aldo Giordano, special envoy of the Holy See to the Council of Europe, and former CCEE general secretary from 1995 to 2008, writes as follows, in his tribute to the late Bishop of Hildesheim: “I had the joy often to meet Bishop Homeyer on the roads of Europe, in our efforts to foster closer collaboration between the CCEE and COMECE. I cherish the memory of the pilgrimage we made together with some 400 representatives of the Churches and public institutions of EU countries to St. James of Compostela in 2004. Homeyer has been inserted in the throng of pilgrims who through the centuries have helped to build Europe, believing in the power of prayer, in the unique contribution of the Gospel and in the role of the Church in the process of the continent’s unification. Even in the most difficult moments he never gave up but continued his journey, bringing the eye of hope and the courage of dialogue to all his meetings and discussions”.