Josef Richard Frings | |
|---|---|
| Cardinal,Archbishop of Cologne | |
 Cardinal Joseph Frings in 1959. | |
| Church | Roman Catholic |
| Archdiocese | Cologne |
| Province | Cologne |
| Diocese | Cologne |
| Installed | 21 June 1942 |
| Term ended | 10 February 1969 |
| Predecessor | Karl Joseph Schulte |
| Successor | Joseph Cardinal Höffner |
| Other post(s) | Cardinal-Priest ofSan Giovanni a Porta Latina |
| Orders | |
| Ordination | 10 August 1910 by Anton Hubert Fischer |
| Consecration | 21 June 1942 by Cesare Orsenigo |
| Created cardinal | 18 February 1946 byPius XII |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Josef Richard Frings (1887-02-06)6 February 1887 |
| Died | 17 December 1978(1978-12-17) (aged 91) Cologne,West Germany |
| Buried | Cologne Cathedral |
| Nationality | German |
| Denomination | Catholic |
| Motto | Pro Hominibus Constitutus (Appointed for men) |
| Signature |  |
| Coat of arms |  |
Josef Richard Frings (6 February 1887 – 17 December 1978), was a German clergyman andCardinal of theCatholic Church. He served asArchbishop of Cologne from 1942 to 1969. Considered a significant figure inCatholic resistance to Nazism, he was elevated to thecardinalate in 1946 byPope Pius XII.
Frings was born as the first of eight children of Heinrich, a weaving industrialist and manufacturer, and Maria (née Sels) Frings, inNeuss. He was baptised on 10 August 1887. After 1905 he studied Catholictheology inMunich,Innsbruck,Freiburg andBonn. On 10 August 1910, he received hisordination to thepriesthood.[1]
At first he worked as achaplain inCologne-Zollstock until 1913, followed by a study visit inRome until 1915. In 1916, he earned a doctorate in theology inFreiburg. From 1915 to 1922, he was pastor in Cologne-Fühlingen. Then, he worked as a principal of an orphanage inNeuss from 1922 to 1924. Until 1937, he was pastor in Cologne-Braunsfeld. Then, he led the archiepiscopalseminary inBensberg.
According toLeni Riefenstahl, in her autobiography, Frings approached her on behalf of the Vatican to commission a pro-Catholic film. The Church had been impressed by her filmThe Blue Light, particularly with respect to its mystical elements. But Riefenstahl declined the offer on the same grounds she later used (unsuccessfully) with Adolf Hitler: that she would not accept a commission to make a film.[2]
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On 1 May 1942 he was surprisingly namedarchbishop of Cologne, a post which he held until his resignation in 1969. Frings received hisepiscopal consecration from ArchbishopCesare Orsenigo, theApostolic Nuncio to Germany, inCologne Cathedral. TheNational Socialist regime had banned the German media from covering the consecration ceremonies; therefore, the citizens of Cologne started to publish small private advertisements to inform each other of the news.
However, the international press was allowed to report the consecration. The persecution of the Jews was described by Frings ashimmelschreiendes Unrecht, 'injustice crying out to heaven'. His popularity saved him from reprisals more than once. Nevertheless, he was closely monitored by theGestapo with the aid of several informers, including some clerics.
Frings's consecration was used as a demonstration of Catholic self-assertion. In his sermons, he repeatedly spoke in support of persecuted peoples and against state repression. In March 1944, Frings attacked arbitrary arrests, racial persecution and forced divorces. That autumn, he protested to the Gestapo against the deportations of Jews from Cologne and surrounds.[3] In 1943, the German bishops had debated whether to confront Hitler directly and collectively over what they knew of the treatment of Jews. Frings wrote a pastoral letter cautioning his diocese not to violate the inherent rights of others to life, even those "not of our blood" and even during war, and preached in a sermon that "no one may take the property or life of an innocent person just because he is a member of a foreign race".[4]
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Frings, who had been a fierce and outspoken opponent of Hitler and Nazism duringWorld War II, was, after the war, appointed head of the German Bishops' conference, and appointed a Cardinal. Against the declared neutrality of the clergy, as demanded by Rome, he joined theChristian Democratic Union (CDU). This step was a signal for many Rhenish Catholics (also clergymen), who before had a rather critical view of an interconfessional party, to support the CDU as well, instead of theCentre Party. Though Frings left the CDU a few months later because of pressure from Rome, his public partisanship is said to have been the start of the marginalising and gradual decline of the CatholicCentre Party.
During the military occupation of Germany, Frings became a staunch advocate on behalf for Nazi war criminals. He repeatedly protested war crimes trials, mainly theDachau trials, as victors' justice. He sent a letter to military governorLucius D. Clay, claiming that some of the convicted war criminals executed atLandsberg Prison by U.S. military occupation authorities were innocent. Frings spoke in favor for several war criminals, including field marshalWilhelm List and theKrupps.[5][6][7][8] Overall, it is said that Frings "strongly opposed the entire concept of bringing the perpetrators to justice."[9]
His episcopalmotto wasPro hominibus constitutus,Latin for "Appointed for the people". Frings was appointedCardinal-Priest ofSan Giovanni a Porta Latina byPope Pius XII in theconsistory of 18 February 1946. From 1945 to 1965, he was chairman of theConference of the German Bishops. In the year 1948 he was named as the "high protector" of refugee affairs.
Frings was an ardent supporter of thedogma of theAssumption of Mary, whose proclamation he personally attended 1 November 1950.Pope Pius XII credited him for participation and signing the relatedApostolic ConstitutionMunificentissimus Deus.[10] In 1954, Cardinal Frings initiated the diocesan godparenthood between theArchbishopric of Cologne and theArchdiocese of Tokyo, one of the first archdiocesan partnerships within theCatholic Church. In 1958 he was the initiator of the social relief organisationMisereor. The relief organisationAdveniat, founded in 1961, also started its work on his behalf.
Cardinal Frings is the only archbishop of Cologne who earned the honorary citizenship of Cologne, which happened in 1967. In the same year, he was also awarded the honorary citizenship of his native townNeuss. The street in Cologne in which the residence of the present Archbishops of Cologne is located was renamed Kardinal-Frings-Straße.
In advance of theSecond Vatican Council, Frings gave a speech inGenoa with the title: "Das Konzil auf dem Hintergrund der Zeitlage im Unterschied zum ersten vatikanischen Konzil" ("The council against the background of the present time in contrast to theFirst Vatican Council"). WhenPope John XXIII later got hold of the text of the speech, he summoned Frings for an audience at theVatican. Cardinal Frings, who was doubtful as to whether the pope liked his speech, said to his secretary, DrHubert Luthe, who would later become the bishop ofEssen, in his humorousKölsch dialect: "Hängen se m'r doch ens dat ruude Mäntelsche üm, wer weiß ob et nit dat letzte Mohl is" ("Please wrap the little red coat around my shoulders again, who knows if it will not be the last time you do it?"). However, the pope appeared enthusiastic when he read Frings' manuscript and gave him a warm welcome. It was recently discovered that the speech had been written by Frings'peritus (theological adviser),Joseph Ratzinger, the future Pope Benedict XVI.[11]
Frings participated in the Second Vatican Council (1962–1965) and was a member of the ten-prelate council chair board. In his speech, delivered in fluent Latin, about the rules of procedure in the opening session of the council ("of the first generalcongregation), he demanded a time of "getting known to each other" of the council fathers before the act of deciding about the compilation of the council commissions and delayed execution of the plans developed by the curia. His speech, predominantly composed by Ratzinger, about theHoly Office, which the prelate perceived as tooconservative andauthoritarian, had tremendous effects and eventually led to its reorganisation as theCongregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.
In 1963, Frings becamephilister of honour of theK.St.V. Arminia Bonn in the KV and on 3 May 1967 honorary member of theA.V. Rheinstein, a Catholic student fraternity that is a member of theCartellverband der katholischen deutschen Studentenverbindungen.
In 1969, he resigned from the governance of his archdiocese for age reasons. He lost more and more of his eyesight and eventually was completely blind. As the result of rule changes byPope Paul VI he lost, on 1 January 1971, the right to participate in apapal conclave due to being over the age of 80.[12]
Frings died in 1978 from a heart attack in Cologne at 91. He was entombed in the archiepiscopal crypt in theCologne Cathedral. His successor wasJoseph Höffner.
On 8 December 1979, thearchiepiscopal Gymnasium Beuel inBonn, which was founded in 1964 by Frings, was named inKardinal-Frings-Gymnasium. In 1996, the Kardinal-Frings-Association was founded in Frings' hometown of Neuss. The aim of the association is a scholarly study of the life and work of the Cardinal, and making the knowledge accessible to a broader public.
On 12 August 2000 a memorial of Frings was erected on behalf of the Cardinal Frings Association. It was inaugurated by the patron of the event, CardinalJoachim Meisner, at the time Archbishop of Cologne. On 24 June 2006, the Südbrücke (south bridge) betweenDüsseldorf and Neuss was renamedJosef-Kardinal-Frings-Brücke.
Cardinal Frings is eternalised in theKölsch language with the word "fringsen" (Colognian pronunciation:[ˈfʁɪŋzə], a verb, literally translates as "to Frings") which became synonymous for "stealing food" and other low-value consumables out of need. The expression dates back on his New Year's Eve sermon which he held on 31 December 1946 in the St. Engelbert church in Cologne-Riehl, in which he referred to the looting of coal trains and the bad supply situation in the grim winter:
We live in times where the single individual, in his need, ought to be allowed to take what he needs to preserve his life and health, if he cannot obtain it through other means, work or begging.
Accordingly, the term "fringsen" refers to obtaining food and fuel for the winter among Cologne citizens. However, it is often overlooked that Cardinal Frings, in the very next sentence, also put the onus of returning the goods or repaying the original owner as soon as possible on whoever would appropriate consumables in this fashion:
But I think that in many cases, this was grossly overdone. And then there is only one way: Promptly return unlawful gains, or there will be no forgiveness with God.
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| Preceded by | Chairman of the Fulda Conference of Catholic Bishops 1946–1965 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by |  Archbishop of Cologne 1942–1969 | Succeeded by |
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