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Celebration in honor of Br. Leonhard Lehmann

Rome. On this past May 28 the academic community of the Pontifical University ‘Antonianum’ (PUA) gathered around Professor Leonhard Lehmann for a heartfelt and well-deserved thanks for all he has done for the Franciscan Institute of Spirituality (IFS) and for the University as a whole in his thirty years of teaching. In these many years he has guided generations of students from all over the world that they might receive a good preparation in spiritual theology for various services in the Order and the Church. Beyond his teaching, Br. Leonhard has also served in various capacities within the Capuchin Order.

Many religious and students participated in the celebration. The General Minister of the Capuchin Order, Br. Roberto Genuin, opened the event by greeting Professor Lehmann and all the participants. Two presentations followed, the first on Br. Leonhard’s academic career, given by Sr. Mary Melone, Magnificent Rector of the PUA, and the second on his personal profile as friar and teacher, given by Paolo Martinelli, OFM Cap., auxiliary bishop of Milan.

The IFS prepared a festschrift volume to celebrate Br. Leonhard’s seventieth birthday and his appointment as professor emeritus, as a small sign of gratitude for all that he has done with competence and constant commitment for the development and quality of our Institute and University. (Leonhard Lehmann, Caritas et Sapientia. Raccolta di studi francescani, eds. B. Molina - L. Bianchi. Bologna: Dehoniane, 2019)

As a sign of their esteem and gratitude, some of Br. Leonhard’s students recounted their own experiences. Among them were Dr. Karin Maier from Austria, Br. Ricardo Rodrigues and Br. Azam Masih representing those who were licentiate students, and Sr. Angele for those who have done the diploma. The provincial vicar of the German Capuchin Province, Br. Christophorus Goedereis, closed the celebration with a warm and brotherly greeting to all.

Everyone agreed to keep in mind that Br. Leonhard is a true expression of the life of a lesser brother – a life which seeks to give itself to Jesus in one’s neighbor – and that Br. Leonhard did just that in a eloquent way in his constant and tireless service of teaching, guiding, communicating, and forming others. He was always a tenacious man who, with indomitable will and German determination, made great use of his qualities, resources, and fidelity to his vocation. Even if he seems serious and reserved, there is in him a great sensibility for and desire to create fraternal bonds in the Order and in the Church. Being someone who seeks to live the Gospel life deeply, we see him in the various settings of the fraternal life. We are not surprised to see him in the library, or devoted at liturgy, or sharing the table with students at meal times. We also recognize how he greets everyone he meets on the street, opening a pleasant and simple conversation, with special and delicate attention to beggars and the needy. Not to be passed over in silence either is his concern for an ecological culture, beginning from the simple choices of the everyday. All of these qualities give us a picture of a lesser brother who, with wisdom, joined intellect, affect, and the practice of life, so as to make himself a passionate teacher of Franciscan spirituality for the contemporary world. At the end of the celebration, Br. Leonhard himself made a lectio brevis in which he emphasized the importance of inter-culturality, dialogue, and universal brother- and sisterhood in Franciscan spirituality.

Bernardo Molina, OFMCap.

Video in italiano:

Foto – gallerie in internet:

Last modified on Wednesday, 05 June 2019 22:57