"Sing praise to the Lord, who rules in Zion!
Tell every nation what he has done! Psalm 99"

This morning at 9.10 a.m. Fr Leo Hornung S.A.C. passed away at our Aged Care ward in Limburg.       (26.07.1999)

Fr Leo was born on 19th April, 1913 in Eltmann, Lower Franconia, diocese of Würzburg, as one of 15 children of Johannes Hornung and his wife Christine. Four of his brothers and sisters died in childhood. One of his brothers became a priest in the diocese of Würzburg.

After four years in primary school Leo entered our Student Hostel in Freising with the aim of becoming a priest in our community and eventually working as a missionary overseas. In Freising he attended the local Grammar School from our Hostel from 1923 to 1932. He graduated in February 1932. In early May of the same year he entered the novitiate of our community in Olpe. There he made his first profession on May 1st 1934.

On May 1st 1937 he promised for life to follow Jesus Christ our Lord in the Society of the Catholic Apostolate. In the era of increasing Nazi terror this was certainly not an easy decision. He did his philosophical and theological studies in our College in Limburg and completed them successfully. On March 25th 1937, Antonius Hilfrich, Bishop of Limburg ordained him to the priesthood in the Church of St Mary in Limburg.

As newly ordained priest Fr Leo was appointed to missionary work among the Aborigines in Northwest Australia, as he had wished. To improve his command of English he went to London for six weeks in summer 1937. He asked the Provincial to further extend his stay in London so that he could learn the language thoroughly. During his holidays at home he also made his drivers license because he could foresee that he would need a license in Australia. He wanted to be well prepared for his missionary duties.

On July 12th 1939 Fr Leo left Europe by boat and arrived in Australia just before the outbreak of WW II.

At first he was sent to our Mission in Beagle Bay but after the start of WW II he had, as a German, to leave the mission area and was to be interned. Due to the energetic intervention by Archbishop Mannix of Melbourne he did not have to go to the internment camp but was able to work as a priest at the Church of Our Savior in Surrey Hills to the end of the war. In spite of his negative experiences Fr Leo acquired the Australian citizenship so that he could work more freely in the country. First he went back to his old appointment in the missions and worked on different stations. His practical talent and his respect for a different culture made him a suitable Pastor among the Aborigines.

In early 1959 Fr Leo received a completely different appointment. He became Chaplain of the German-speaking Catholics in the State of Victoria. Since the beginning of the 50’s, many refugees from East Prussia, Silesia, East and West Germany, Austria and Switzerland, as well as German speaking people from Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia and Hungary had been emigrating to Australia. They had come on the so-called Migrant Ships and settled all over the whole country. In Victoria, there lived at times up to 20,000 German-speaking Catholics. It was a real mix of peoples. Under the pressure of these circumstances a good relationship developed with the Lutheran German-speaking congregation. The two Chaplains settled for a sharing of commitments.

Fr Leo had the gift of being able to attend wholeheartedly to a multi-faceted congregation. What he practiced was an outreaching pastoral care. His good memory for persons and the lasting interest in people whom he had met once helped him not to lose sight of the persons and families of his congregation. Where he himself couldn’t assist, he made sure that others helped. His reliability, zeal and workload were proverbial. In the cause of time he built up the St. Christopher’s Migrant Centre in Richmond and made it into a real meeting place for German-speaking migrants. There he published the circular "Christopherus", as a means of communication and contacts for the whole of Victoria. He tried everything humanly possible to establish lasting contacts of the Catholics among themselves and with the Church. In 1978 the West-German Government honoured him for this social endeavour with the Cross-of-Merit, 1st Class. Asked about the hardships connected with his ministry, he answered "I haven’t got a disposition for losing heart". The pace of his work inevitably affected his health.

During his home holidays in 1979 he mentioned for the first time a possible return to Germany. His desire to be closer to his family in his old age certainly had something to do with it as well as his home sickness, which he never had completely overcome.

With the preparations for his return to Germany Fr Leo proceeded very carefully. He first returned to the German chaplaincy in Melbourne to find out what his chances of success would be. In 1980 he applied for a transfer to the Provincial Council in Limburg and to the Australian Regional Regime. On 18 October 1981, after 22 years of service, he was farewelled as Chaplain to the German-speaking Catholic congregation in Richmond by Auxiliary Bishop Kuhnle of Rottenburg in the presence of the German Ambassador and many members of the Lutheran congregation. Before that he had been involved in a car accident in which he received bad bruises and several broken rips. On 28 October he returned by plane to Germany.

On 15 July 1982, after a prolonged period of convalescence, Fr Leo took on the Pastoral Care at St Franziskushaus in Elspe/Sauerland, first on a trial basis and then permanently. The state of his health remained precarious. In mid-1991 he felt that he was not any longer able to do justice to his responsibilities at the hospital and therefore asked to be relieved from this commitment. From then on he lived in our house in Olpe.

In the spring of 1993 he had another accident and after some time in hospital came for rehabilitation purposes to our Aged Care ward in Limburg. There he remained, because it became obvious that he needed care. The last 6 years of his life he spent in the Mother House in Limburg, at first taking part in the daily life of the house community. By and by his physical as well as his mental strength diminished, so that he needed full time care. He found it hard to accept that. Again and again he also needed hospital care.

On 1st May this year Fr Leo was able to celebrate the Iron Jubilee of Profession with his classmates and really enjoyed it. After that a rapid and unrelenting loss of strength set in, which accelerated in the last few days. This morning he gave back his earthly life into the hands of his Creator. He was well prepared.

Fr Leo is described by his confreres in Australia and by former members of his congregation as an untiring worker, and a man with energy but also as a sensitive interlocutor and a dependable helper. This was certainly the main facet of his character.

We thank God that we were allowed to have Fr Leo and give praise to him for his prayers, for his unselfish engagement and his fidelity over so many years.

Requiem Mass for Fr Leo will be celebrated on Friday, 30 July 1999 at 14.00 hours in St Mary’s Pallottine Church in Limburg. This is followed by the burial in the Cemetery of our Community.

Limburg, 26 July 1999

Fr Langenfeld SAC,

Vice-Provincial

The translations from German was by Father Gerard Christoph S.A.C.