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Herbert Leuninger

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Herbert Leuninger
Born(1932-09-08)8 September 1932
Cologne-Ossendorf
Died28 July 2020(2020-07-28) (aged 87)
Limburg an der Lahn, Hesse, Germany
Occupations
Organizations
Awards
  • Wilhelm Leuschner Medal
Websitewww.leuninger-herbert.de

Herbert Leuninger (8 September 1932 – 28 July 2020) was a German Catholic priest and theologian. He was a human rights activist for asylum in Germany, a co-founder and speaker of the organisation Pro Asyl, helping refugees, and a member of the board of the European Council on Refugees and Exiles. He is remembered as a "loudspeaker" of refugees.[1]

Life

Leuninger was born in Cologne-Ossendorf, the second of three children of Alois and Elisabeth Leuninger from Mengerskirchen, Westerwald, where he grew up;[1] his brother Ernst Leuninger [de] also became a priest and theologian.[1] His uncle Franz Leuninger was a Christian trade unionist active in the German resistance to Nazism, who was executed on 1 March 1945 at the Berlin-Plötzensee prison [de].[1][2]

After his Abitur at the Gymnasium Philippinum Weilburg [de], Leuninger studied philosophy and theology. He was ordained as a priest at the Limburg Cathedral on 8 December 1958. He assisted in a parish in Frankfurt-Nied, and then was chaplain (Kaplan), from 1959 in Oberlahnstein and later at the Antoniuskirche [de] in Frankfurt's Westend, then as parish priest in Kriftel. In 1970, he was appointed minister for young people (Jugendpfarrer) for the Main-Taunus district. He served as the referent for migration matters (Migrationsreferent) for the Bishop of Limburg from 1972 to 1992,[2][3] as an advisor of bishops Wilhelm Kempf and Franz Kamphaus. Leuninger served as a member of the board of the European Council on Refugees and Exiles based in London.[4]

In 1986, he founded with Jürgen Micksch and others in Frankfurt Pro Asyl, a human rights organisation for refugees seeking asylum in Germany.[5][2] He served as the organisation's speaker until 1994,[5] then as its referent for Europe until 1998.[2][1]

Leuninger published, focused, besides the church and theology, on topics related to asylum in Germany, such as Integration von Zugewanderten [de] (integration of immigrants), Fremdenfeindlichkeit (Xenophobia, literally: hostility towards strangers], and Multikulturelle Gesellschaft [de] (multi-cultural society).[3]

Leininger died after a short illness in Limburg at the age of 87.[5][1][2]

Awards

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Arens, Christoph (30 July 2020). "Pro-Asylgründer Herbert Leuninger gestorben Anwalt und Lautsprecher für Flüchtlinge". domradio.de (in German). Retrieved 2 August 2020.
  2. ^ a b c d e "Ein Leben für die Menschenrechte – PRO ASYL trauert um Herbert Leuninger". Pro Asyl (in German). 29 July 2020. Retrieved 2 August 2020.
  3. ^ a b "Herbert Leuninger". leuninger-herbert.de (in German). 11 June 2018. Retrieved 11 June 2018.
  4. ^ "Herbert Leuninger. Archiv Biographie 2008". leuninger-herbert.de (in German). 11 June 2018. Retrieved 11 June 2018.
  5. ^ a b c d "Mitbegründer von Pro Asyl Herbert Leuninger gestorben". Süddeutsche Zeitung (in German). dpa. 29 July 2020. Retrieved 2 August 2020.
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