Kampe, Walther

Catholic clergyman, auxiliary bishop

Born: 31.05.1909 in Wiesbaden

Died: 22.04.1998 in Limburg

After studying theology in Frankfurt-St. Georgen and Munich, Kampe was ordained a priest in Limburg in 1934 and celebrated his first Mass in the parish church of St. Boniface in Wiesbaden on December 9, 1934. Shortly afterwards, he was transferred to the German expatriates in Bessarabia, where he took over the pastoral care of the Catholic community there. During the war, he worked in Sibiu and Odessa. In 1945, he was deported to the Ukraine for forced labor, from where he was only able to return to Wiesbaden in 1947. He worked as a chaplain in the Frankfurt parish of St. Leonhard until 1952, when Pope Pius XII finally appointed him as the first auxiliary bishop of the diocese of Limburg on July 20, 1952 at the request of Bishop Wilhelm Kempf. During the Second Vatican Council, Kampe headed the information center for German-speaking journalists in Rome. In 1967, he became Episcopal Vicar for the Synodal Area, Spiritual Assistant to Catholic Action and the Catholic Academy Rhabanus Maurus, which had been opened in Wiesbaden in 1957. From 1973-79, Kampe also held the office of cathedral dean. During his time in office, Limburg Cathedral was restored.

As one of the vice presidents of the "Society for Middle Rhine Church History", he promoted diocesan church historiography. He was Prior of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre for several years, dealt with the topic of German-Jewish relations and held the office of President of the German section of the Catholic peace movement Pax Christi from 1981 until his retirement as Auxiliary Bishop on May 31, 1984. In 1982 he was awarded the Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany. His grave is in the canons' cemetery at Limburg Cathedral.