Traudl Wallbrecher

Gertraud Weiß grew up in Munich-Schwabing. From age 13, she belonged to the Catholic Heliand League.{{cite book|title=Katholische Integrierte Gemeinde - eine Kurzdarstellung|date=2005|publisher=Verlag Urfeld|location=Bad Tölz|isbn=9783932857454|pages=8|url=http://deposit.ddb.de/cgi-bin/dokserv?id=2611647&prov=M&dok_var=1&dok_ext=htm|accessdate=28 May 2017}} After auxiliary service in the war, she began studying psychology at the University of Munich, and from 1943 onwards she attended the Social Women's School. As a nurse, she was obligated to work in the service in 1945 and experienced the dissolution of the Dachau concentration camp first-hand.{{cite journal|last1=Koch|first1=Bernhard|title=Traudl Wallbrecher (1923 - 2016)|journal=Plough Quarterly|date=2017|volume=Spring|pages=76|url=http://www.plough.com/en/topics/community/leadership/traudl-wallbrecher|accessdate=28 May 2017}}

From 1945, she was the leader of Heliand.{{cite journal|title=Heute in Kírche und Welt|date=2003|volume=Sonderausgabe zum 18. May 2003|issue=Verlag Urfeld|pages=2}}

At the nationwide meeting in Telgte near Münster in 1947, she unsettled the assembled people with the question of what the Shoah catastrophe meant for the church and its mission.{{cite book|last1=de Gaál|first1=Emery|title=The theology of Pope Benedict XVI - The christocentric shift|date=2010|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|location=New York|isbn=978-0-230-11476-0|pages=Chapter 7: Pastor to Radical Christians|edition=1st|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pdRdAQAAQBAJ&q=Pope+Benedict+Integrated+Community&pg=PT78|accessdate=28 May 2017}} As a consequence, she left the Heliand in 1948 and started the group "Junger Bund".{{cite book|last1=Guerriero|first1=Elio|title=Servitore di Dio e dell'umanità - La biografia di Benedetto XVI|date=2016|publisher=Mondadori|location=Milano|isbn=978-8804672401|pages=Chapter VI: Ebrei e cristiani: due religioni, un'unica Alleanza|url=https://tolinoreader.ibs.it/reader/index.html#/epub?epuburl=https:%2F%2Fcdp.pageplace.de%2Fcdp%2Fpublic%2Fpublications%2FDT0251%2F9788852076398%2FPREVIEW%2F9788852076398_preview.epub|accessdate=28 May 2017}} Among others, she was encouraged to do so by theologian professor Michael Schmaus.Katholische Integrierte Gemeinde, Heute in Kirche und Welt, No. 6/2008, {{ISSN|1616-2293}}, p. 3, Papst Benedikt XVI. an Traudl Wallbrecher zu ihrem 85. Geburtstag, Vatikanstadt, 14. Mai 2008 The priest Dr. Aloys Goergen supported the group until 1968.

In 1949, Traudl Weiß married the lawyer Herbert Wallbrecher from Hagen in Westphalia, who belonged to the Catholic "Bund Neudeutschland."{{cite book|last1=Tyldesley|first1=Mike|title=No heavenly delusion? A comparative study of three communal movements|date=2003|publisher=Liverpool University Press|location=Liverpool|isbn=0-85323-608-9|pages=91|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yvRwG1ahKc0C&q=Integrated+community+mike+tyldesley&pg=PA96|accessdate=28 May 2017}} They had four children. With him and his friend Johannes Joachim Degenhardt, the latter Cardinal and archbishop of Paderborn, she found two allies. The Integrated Community was formed by the people who gathered around Traudl Wallbrecher, her husband and Aloys Goergen.

As editor of the magazine "Die Integrierte Gemeinde,"{{cite journal|last1=Wallbrecher|first1=Traudl|title=Die Integrierte Gemeinde|journal=Christliche Existenz in einer säkularen Welt - Beiträge zur Reform der Kirche|date=1976|volume=1 - 17|issue=1969|url=https://opacplus.bsb-muenchen.de/metaopac/search.do?methodToCall=submitButtonCall&CSId=58668N326S4fdaf1877efa854ec19b6c6e314ed02af5a10619&methodToCallParameter=submitSearch&refine=false&View=default&searchCategories%5B0%5D=-1&speedy=on&searchString%5B0%5D=Die+integrierte+Gemeinde&submitButtonCall_submitSearch=Suchen&searchRestrictionValue1%5B0%5D=&searchRestrictionID%5B0%5D=10&searchRestrictionValue1%5B1%5D=&searchRestrictionID%5B1%5D=11&searchRestrictionValue1%5B2%5D=&searchRestrictionID%5B2%5D=8&searchRestrictionValue2%5B2%5D=&numberOfHits=10&rememberList=-1|accessdate=29 June 2017}} Wallbrecher aroused the interest of agnostics like Gerhard Szczesny{{cite book|last1=de Gaál|first1=Emery|title=The theology of Pope Benedict XVI - The christocentric shift|date=2010|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|location=New York|isbn=978-0-230-11476-0|pages=Chapter 7: Pastor to "Radical Christians"|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pdRdAQAAQBAJ&q=Pope+Benedict+Integrated+Community&pg=PT78}} and theologians like Joseph Ratzinger,[http://www.communio.de/inhalte.php?jahrgang=2009&ausgabe=2&artikel=5 Karl-Heinz Menke, Die 'Älteren Brüder und Schwestern', in: Zeitschrift Communio, 2009, p. 191]{{cite book|last1=Kissler|first1=Alexander|title=Der Deutsche Papst - Benedikt XVI. und seine schwierige Heimat|date=2005|publisher=Herder|location=Freiburg im Breisgau|isbn=3451288672|pages=87, 93–94|url=http://d-nb.info/974891398/04|accessdate=28 May 2017}} who supported the path of the KIG within the Catholic Church since then.{{cite book|editor-last1=Wallbrecher|editor-first1=Traudl|title=30 Jahre Wegbegleitung|date=2006|publisher=Verlag Urfeld|location=Bad Tölz|isbn=978-3-932857-40-9|pages=20 ff|url=http://d-nb.info/981427316/04|accessdate=28 May 2017}}{{cite web |title=Joseph Ratzinger / Papst Benedikt, Skandalöser Realismus? Gott handelt in der Geschichte, Verlag Urfeld, Bad Tölz. 3. Aufl. 2005 ISBN 3-932857-44-5, Vorwort von Traudl Wallbrecher,(Urfelder Texte, 4). |url= https://www.dsp.at/sites/www.dsp.at/files/dateien/skandaloeser_realismus.pdf}} She gained ideas for the "community" experiment in 1965 on a trip to kibbutzim in Israel.{{cite book|last1=Pesch|first1=Rudolf|title=Juden und Christen - ein einziges Volk Gottes?|date=2009|publisher=Patmos|location=Düsseldorf|isbn=978-3-491-72534-8|page=66}} Through the friendship with Chaim Seeligmann,{{cite book|last1=Seeligmann|first1=Chaim|title=Es war nicht nur ein Traum|date=2002|publisher=Verlag Urfeld|location=Bad Tölz|isbn=3-932857-29-1|pages=142 ff|url=http://www.hagalil.com/2010/09/seeligmann/|accessdate=28 May 2017}}{{cite book|last1=Seeligmann|first1=Chaim|title=Spuren einer stillen Revolution - Begegnungen eines Kibbuz-Mitgliedes mit der Katholischen Integrierten Gemeinde|date=1998|publisher=Verlag Urfeld|location=Hagen|isbn=3-932857-21-6|url=http://stadtlexikon.karlsruhe.de/index.php/De:Lexikon:bio-0618|accessdate=28 May 2017}} this resulted in an intensive exchange, which eventually led to the founding of the "Urfelder Kreis"{{cite web|last1=Palgi|first1=Yair|title=First impressions of the Urfeld Circle Meeting|url=http://yairpalgi.com/first-impressions-of-the-urfeld-circle-meeting/|website=פוסטים אחרונים|publisher=yairpalgi.com|accessdate=28 May 2017}} in 1995.{{cite book |author=Yaacov Oved |title=Globalization of communes 1950 – 2010, 2013, New Brunswick NY, Transaction Publishers |date=2 November 2012 |isbn=9781412849487 |page=161 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cKz1UK7MYcwC&q=International+communes+desk+integrierte+Gemeinde&pg=PA161}}{{cite book|last1=Dorkam-Dispeker|first1=Joel|title=Stacheln im Honig|date=2015|publisher=Schüren Verlag|location=Marburg|isbn=978-3-89472-290-6|pages=307 ff|url=http://d-nb.info/1060571889/04|accessdate=28 May 2017}} American Hutterites and German Bruderhofers were also drawn to attention.{{cite book|author=Yaacov Oved|title=The Witness of the brothers - A history of the Bruderhof|date=2013|publisher=Transaction Publishers|location=New Brunswick (U.S.A.); London (U.K.)|isbn=9781560002031|pages=319–321|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iY9lLY_u9G0C&q=Integrierte+Gemeinde|accessdate=28 May 2017}} p. 321 reports about a meeting of Johann Christoph Arnold and Cardinal Ratzinger in Rome on June 24, 1995 arranged by Integrierte Gemeinde In the US, Wallbrecher won religious Jews as friends, such as the writer Zvi Kolitz and the director of the New York Yeshiva University, Norman Lamm.{{cite book|last1=Buckenmaier/Pesch/Weimer|first1=Achim/Rudolf/Ludwig|title=Der Jude Jesus von Nazareth - Zum Gespräch zwischen Jacob Neusner und Papst Benedikt XVI|date=2008|publisher=Bonifatius|location=Paderborn|isbn=978-3-89710-419-8|url=http://deposit.d-nb.de/cgi-bin/dokserv?id=3111801&prov=M&dok_var=1&dok_ext=htm|accessdate=28 May 2017}}

Together with her husband, she founded the private Günter-Stöhr-Gymnasium in 1977, which is now one of the schools in the St. Anna school network.{{cite web|title=Günter-Stöhr-Gymnasium|url=http://www.st-anna.eu/en/g%C3%BCnter-st%C3%B6hr-gymnasium|website=St. Anna Schulverbund|publisher=www.st-anna.eu|accessdate=28 May 2017}} Since 1978, an Integrated Community in Africa{{cite web|url=http://www.intigreator.com/csr/tanzania/|title=Herbert-Wallbrecher-School – Tanzania – INTIGREATOR|website=www.intigreator.com}} has developed from her encounter with Bishop Christopher Mwoleka{{cite web|last1=Cheney|first1=David M.|title=Bishop Christopher Mwoleka|url=http://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/bishop/bmwoleka.html|website=Catholic Hierarchy|publisher=www.catholic-hierarchy.org|accessdate=28 May 2017}} in Tanzania.{{cite web|last1=Report Nr. 19/2006|title=Catholic Integrated Community in Tanzania|url=https://www.giz-online.de/cms/images/pdf/GIZ_Tanzania_Report_No_19_english.pdf|website=Jumuiya Katoliki ya Integresheni|accessdate=28 May 2017}}{{cite web|title=Reports from Tanzania - 2015 The Girls Boarding School in Mikese|url=http://www.kig-online.de/sites/default/files/upload/reports_from_tansania_2015.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171201182236/https://www.kig-online.de/sites/default/files/upload/reports_from_tansania_2015.pdf|url-status=usurped|archive-date=December 1, 2017|website=KIG-online.de|publisher=KIG - Catholic Integrated Community|accessdate=28 May 2017}}

One of her greatest concerns was the theology, which had grown from the new experience of the Church.{{cite book|last1=Cardinal Ratzinger|first1=Joseph|title=Many religions, one covenant - Israel, the Church and the World|date=1999|publisher=Ignatius Press|location=San Francisco|isbn=978-0-89870-753-3|pages=Notes, Preface|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HJWBCwAAQBAJ&q=many+religions+one+covenant+ratzinger+Integrierte+Gemeinde&pg=PT58|accessdate=28 May 2017}} To address this, two New Testament exegetes, Rudolf Pesch{{cite book|last1=Pesch|first1=Rudolf|title=The Trial of Jesus continues|date=1999|publisher=Pickwick Publications|location=Allison Park, Pa.|isbn=978-1-55635-033-7|edition=Translated from the German by Doris Glen Wagner}}{{cite web|last1=Pesch|first1=Rudolf|title=Rudolf Pesch, 1936 - 2011|url=http://worldcat.org/identities/lccn-n50009750/|website=WorldCat Identities|publisher=worldcat.org|accessdate=28 May 2017}}{{cite web|url=http://www.popolodidio.org/en/in-memoriam-rudolf-pesch|title=» In memory of Rudolf Pesch|website=www.popolodidio.org}}Rudolf Pesch, Juden und Christen – ein einziges Volk Gottes? Patmos Verlag, Düsseldorf 2009, {{ISBN|9783491725348}} and Gerhard Lohfink{{cite web|url=http://www.plough.com/en/authors/l/gerhard-lohfink|title=Gerhard Lohfink|website=Plough}}[https://www.christiancentury.org/reviews/2014-07/untamed-jesus In review: No Irrelevant Jesus, by Gerhard Lohfink] Thomas D. Stegman (2013): The Living Presence of God. Jesus of Nazareth by Gerhard Lohfink. In: America The Jesuit Review 2013 (18. March 2013){{cite book|last1=Lohfink|first1=Gerhard|title=Does God Need the Church?|date=2014|publisher=Liturgical Press|location=Collegeville, MN|isbn=9780814659281|pages=321|edition=translated by Linda Maloney}}{{cite book|last1=Lohfink|first1=Gerhard|title=Jesus of Nazareth - What He wanted, who He was|date=2015|publisher=Liturgical Press|location=Collegeville, Minn.|isbn=9780814683088|url=http://www.americamagazine.org/issue/culture/living-presence-god|accessdate=28 May 2017}}{{cite web|last1=Martin|first1=James|title=Jesus, by the book|url=http://www.americamagazine.org/issue/jesus-book|website=America The Jesuit Review|date=31 January 2013 |publisher=www.americamagazine.org|accessdate=28 May 2017}} gave up their professorships in the 1980s and joined the Integrated Community. A chair called "Cattedra per la Teologia del Popolo di Dio"{{cite web|title=Cattedra per la teologia del popolo di dio|url=http://www.pul.it/it/cattedra-la-teologia-del-popolo-dio/|website=Pontificia Università Lateranense|publisher=www.pul.it|accessdate=28 May 2017}}{{cite web |url=https://it.zenit.org/articles/ratzinger-la-figura-di-gesu-oggi-respinta-nei-miei-libri-ho-voluto-renderla-visibile/ |title=Symposium in Tanzania |date= March 2014}} was established at the Lateran UniversityAchim Buckenmaier, A poor people of God for the poor in the world? The challenge of Pope Francis, Roma 2014, Lateran University Press {{ISBN|884650965X}} in Rome in 2008{{cite web|title=Chair for the Theology of the People of God|url=http://www.popolodidio.org/en/lehrstuhl|website=www.popolodidio.org|publisher=Prof. Dr. Achim Buckenmaier|accessdate=28 May 2017}} following Wallbrecher's initiative of the "Academy for the Theology of the People of God" in the Villa Cavalletti near Frascati; since September 2016, the chair has offered the post-graduate distance learning module "The Profile of the Jewish Christian," which began in English in September 2017.{{cite web|title=Distance Learning|url=http://www.popolodidio.org/en/fernstudium|website=Theology of the people of God|publisher=Chair for the theology of the people of God|accessdate=28 May 2017}}

On July 29, 2016, Gertraud Wallbrecher passed away in Munich at the age of 93 after a prolonged illness.{{cite web|last1=Weimer|first1=Ludwig|title=Setting the course: Assembling instead of dissipating|url=http://www.kig-online.de/sites/default/files/upload/setting_the_course_-_assembling_instead_of_dissipating_-_by_ludwig_weimer.pdf|website=Remembering Traudl Wallbrecher|publisher=kig-online.de|accessdate=28 May 2017}}{{dead link|date=May 2025|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}} The Italian newspaper "Avennire" (August 9, 2016) captioned its obituary "Addio a Gertrude Wallbrecher, 'teologa' del popolo di Dio."{{cite journal|last1=Galli|first1=Andrea|title=Addio a Gertraud Wallbrecher, 'teologa' del popolo di Dio|journal=Avvenire|date=2016-08-09|url=https://www.avvenire.it/|accessdate=28 May 2017}}

• Traudl Wallbrecher (Hrsg.): Monatszeitschrift HEUTE in Kirche und Welt. (2000–2008) ISSN 1616-2293.
• Traudl Wallbrecher (Ed.), TODAY pro ecclesia viva, (English edition of HEUTE pro ecclesia viva ISSN 0946-6401),Bad Tölz 1996
• Traudl Wallbrecher, Ludwig Weimer, Arnold Stötzel (Hrsg.): 30 Jahre Wegbegleitung – Joseph Ratzinger/Papst Benedikt XVI. und die Katholische Integrierte Gemeinde. Verlag Urfeld, Bad Tölz 2006, {{ISBN|978-3-932857-40-9}} .
• Traudl Wallbrecher, Ludwig Weimer (Hrsg.): Katholische Integrierte Gemeinde. Eine Kurzdarstellung. Verlag Urfeld, Bad Tölz 2005, {{ISBN|978-3-932857-45-4}} .
• Traudl Wallbrecher (Hrsg.): Die Integrierte Gemeinde. Beiträge zur Reform der Kirche. 18 Bände, Verlag Urfeld, München (1969–1976).
• Joseph Kardinal Ratzinger: Skandalöser Realismus? – Gott handelt in der Geschichte. Verlag Urfeld 2005, Preface from Traudl Wallbrecher, {{ISBN|3-932857-44-5}} .
• Traudl Wallbrecher (Hrsg.): Ecclesiae Solamen – Gedanken zur Theologie Johann Adam Möhlers. Verlag Urfeld 1982.
• Traudl Wallbrecher: Das Vaterunser und die Weitergabe des Glaubens. In: Heute in Kirche und Welt Heft 5/2008, ISSN 1616-2293, S. 13.
• Catholic Integrated Community (Hrsg.) Theologica No. 3 – Englisch Edition: 'Teologa' del popolo di Dio. Gertraud Wallbrecher (1923–2016), Baierbrunn 2016, {{ISBN|978-3-946577-03-4}}

{{Reflist}}

• [https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/pontifical_councils/laity/documents/rc_pc_laity_doc_20051114_associazioni_en.html Pontifical Council for the laity, International Associations of the faithful, Directory]
• [http://www.laici.va/content/laici/en/sezioni/associazioni/repertorio/comunita-cattolica-di-integrazione.html Pontifical Council for the Laity ]

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Category:20th-century German Catholic theologians

Category:Women Christian theologians

Category:1923 births

Category:2016 deaths