Premiere in the Catholic Church of Carinthia: Bishop Marketz commissioned 22 laypeople to conduct funerals, farewells and urn burials for the first time
O Bishop, your priests are too busy synoding to bury the dead.
This is the Bishop that prioritises Ecology over the Assumption of Our Lady.
The following women and men (in alphabetical order) will receive the Episcopal decree during a Vespers in the Chapel of the Sodalitas Catholic Education Center in Tainach/Tinje and will take up the newly introduced service as funeral directors:
Gabriela Amruš-Glantschnig, nursing home chaplain of the Diocese of Gurk
Prof. Mag. Hannes Berger, Tröpolach, religion teacher
Dieter Frierss, Villach-St. Martin, Pastoral Care
Mag. Marjan Gallob, St. Jakob/Petschnitzen/St. Niklas, pastoral assistant
Christine Görtschacher, Klagenfurt-Dompfarre, retired pastoral assistant
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Brigitta Höfferer, Klagenfurt-St. Egid, retired pastoral worker
Sabine Kahle, Althofen, honorary leader of the word service
Sabine Kämmerer, Villach-St. Martin, pastoral assistant
Benno Karnel, Spittal, regional officer
Maria Konrad, Villach-St. Martin, pastoral assistant
Mag. Christian Leitgeb, pastoral assistant
Hildegard Merle, Obervellach, retired religion teacher
Helmut Nagele, Klagenfurt-St. Egid, pastoral assistant
Ingrid Pak-Ramusch MSc, Maria Elend, religion teacher
Franz Pipp, Völkermarkt, pastoral assistant
Dipl. Theol. Prepeluh Primož, Maria Elend/Ludmannsdorf/Kappel, pastoral assistant
Andrea Scherer, Zedlitzdorf, honorary leader of the word service
Eva Schwarz-Dellemeschnig, Maria Pulst/Glantschach/Zweikirchen, pastoral assistant
Angela Suntinger, Spittal/Amlach/Molzbichl, retired pastoral assistant
Mag. Heidi Wassermann-Dullnig, Villach-St. Joseph, pastoral assistant
Mag. Elisabeth Zech, Klagenfurt-Dompfarre, retired religion teacher
Mag. Franz Zlanabitnig, Pörtschach am Berg, retired theologian
Trained laypersons as funeral directors are “an important and necessary step”
Content of the training
The contents of the training include dealing with grief, biblical approaches to death and grief, communication training for grief talks, information about the legal and canonical framework, the liturgical celebration, the wake prayer and liturgical training on how to organize the funeral service. In addition to preparing and leading the funeral liturgy, the service of the funeral directors also includes accompanying and advising the relatives in the event of bereavement.
The prerequisite for completing the training course is a theological qualification (minimum requirement: "Theological correspondence course") and a completed course for the extraordinary distribution of communion as well as for the management of celebrations of the Word of God and blessing celebrations. In a one-to-one discussion in the run-up to the training, pastoral competence in dealing with mourners, the ability to empathize and mental resilience are also tested.