Beginnings of the Passionists in Germany 1922-1929
by Rob Carbonneau, C.P., Ph.D.
On March 23, 1922, Provincial Justin Carey informed the Passionist Procurator in Rome that he was pleased that the Passionists being sent to Germany "had no newspaper notoriety, which is," continued Carey, "the one thing I was anxious to avoid." Carey's decision to avoid publicity about the beginnings of the German foundation has remained true to the present day. It always seemed to be less important than China, which, over time received more personnel, money and support from the Sign. Still, the German foundation and the Passionist participants merit reflection on their own even if Provincial Justin Carey appeared to opt for quiet as the United States faced a post-World War I world. This short essay will examine the genesis of the German foundation from 1922 to 1929.
"The problems facing this Chapter were, for the most part, quite unlike those of previous Chapters" reflected the members of the Twenty-First Provincial Chapter of the Province of St. Paul of the Cross held July 16 to 24, 1923. The mission to China and the Sign were progressing. Passionist vocations were increasing "with unprecedented rapidity" and, reported the capitulars, the Province had "planted the Cross in Germany." Later, in response to a letter (apparently from Fathers Victor Koch and Valentine Lehnerd who had been sent to Germany), the Chapter decreed to "recognize the arduous undertaking and the many difficulties attending the First Foundation of the Order in a country where the Passionists were unknown."
The German foundation received mediocre attention in the Sign. May 1922 readers of "Current Fact and Comment" were told that Father Victor Koch, rector of St. Paul's Monastery in Pittsburgh, and Father Valentine Lehnerd, who had been involved in preaching, had sailed for Rome in April 1922. "It is planned, " stated the Sign, "to make it the nucleus of a Passionist Province" in Germany. The article went on to say that the partition of Germany meant the loss of five million Catholics out of seven million that were detached. Excluding the Sarr district Catholic proportion in 1922 was 33.5%.
Carey had also reported in the March 1922 letter that a "substantial sum" of money was available for the German foundation. But that did not deter Passionists, prior to their departure, from collecting money from their friends in the hope that they would "bring more than money to Germany, [and] that they will bring the spirit of St. Paul of the Cross."
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