Mechernich/Blankenheim - Father Gregor Stepkes is dead. The Communio priest, who had quietly celebrated his 70th anniversary of ordination last year, died on Friday morning in the ‘Haus Effata’ of the Ordo Communionis in Christo in Blankenheim, where he had lived and ministered for almost two decades. He was 95 years old.
‘He fell asleep quietly and gave his immortal soul back to God,’ writes Superior General Jaison Thazhathil, who is currently on a visit to Communio missions in India: ’We mourn the loss of this wonderful priest and witness to God, who meant so much to our community and many of our residents.’
At his jubilee of grace in 2023, Gregor Stepkes spoke of his childhood and youth in a thoroughly Catholic home - and also of the guilt and inadequacy that such a long life as a priest had brought with it.
Born in Krefeld, he was ordained a priest on 28 February 1953 in the Cathedral of Aachen by Bishop Johannes Joseph van der Velden along with 22 other deacons. Stepkes, one of whose five siblings also became a priest and the youngest brother Johannes a permanent deacon, was the last of the ordination class to be alive.
Auxiliary Bishop Reger was his chaplain
Father Jaison Thazhathil, the Superior General of the Ordo Communionis in Christo from Mechernich, his deputy, the Mechernich deacon Manfred Lang, and spiritual director Father Rudolf Ammann ISch from Blankenheim were among those who visited him on the occasion of his jubilee as a priest of grace.
Gregor Stepkes celebrated his iron and diamond jubilee as a priest in the parish church of Alendorf with, among others, the Auxiliary Bishops Karl Reger and Dr Johannes Bündgens from Aachen and his friend Superior General Karl-Heinz Haus. Reger also died a few weeks ago. At the time, he was chaplain to Pastor Stepkes in Viersen.
‘The ways of God are a mystery to man": Superior General Jaison Thazhathil honoured the deceased with this quote at his Iron Jubilee of Ordination. He said at the time: ‘We are very happy and we are all very proud of you that you have lasted so long and we thank God today that He has given us such a good shepherd.’
Ein Leben, das ganz Gott geweiht ist, sei nicht ein Zustand, den man in einem Moment erreichen könne. Glaube sei ein Prozess. Wie das Gold im Feuer gereinigt werde, so werde der Glaubende im irdischen Leben geprüft. Das Licht, das Pastor Stepkes auch im 95. Lebensjahr noch ausstrahle, sei sein tiefer Glaube an Christus, der ihn zu seinem Dienst berufen habe, so Thazhathil.
Zur Priesterweihe am 28. Februar 1953 wählte Gregor Stepkes einen Vers aus der Geheimen Offenbarung (22,17): „Und der Geist und die Braut sagen: Komm! Und wer es hört, spreche: Komm! Und wen dürstet, der komme. Und wer will, empfange lebendiges Wasser umsonst.“
Am 23. Februar 1971 legte Gregor Stepkes das Ewige Versprechen in der Priestergemeinschaft Unio Jesus Caritas ab und am 1. September 1977 in Mechernich-Holzheim die Versprechen in die Hände von Mutter Marie Therese. Gregor Stepkes glaubte an ihr außerordentliches Gründungscharisma: „In ihren Schriften spricht die Stimme Gottes zu uns.“
Funeral services on 10 June in Krefeld
Stepkes' vocation to the priesthood came to him during the Nazi regime. His father Johannes was dismissed as mayor of Kleve by the National Socialists because he did not want to become a member of the NSDAP. Years of hardship followed, during which an acquaintance, a cook, and a lawyer friend of his father's saved the family from economic ruin.
‘I wanted to have a job that would last even if they stripped me naked and chased me into the gas chamber,’ said Father Stepkes in an interview with the ProfiPress agency: ‘During the Nazi era, I learnt to trust God from my parents. For us, faith didn't come from outside, but was an expression of a deep awareness of life.’
He became a priest as a result of his experiences during the Nazi era. And so Gregor Stepkes attended the seminary in Aachen and was ordained a priest in 1953. He came to Viersen as a chaplain. He later took up his second post as chaplain in Rheydt in the Sacred Heart parish.
Father Stepkes was chaplain to the Christian Workers' Youth (CAJ) there for six years until 1968. Father Jaison: ’Then he went to St. Joseph's for 25 years as parish priest and also as dean in Viersen. In 1993, he left everything and came to the promised land - the Eifel.’ There he was assistant parish priest in today's GdG Heiliger Matthias until 2008.
The solemn exequies will take place on Monday, 10 June at 11 a.m. in the parish church of St. Cornelius, Kirchplatz 25, in St. Tönis, a district of Tönisvorst in the Viersen district. Father Patrick Mwanguhya will concelebrate on behalf of the Ordo Communionis in Christo, with Deputy Superior General Deacon Manfred Lang assisting and preaching. The burial at the cemetery 500 metres away begins at 12.30 pm.
pp/Agentur ProfiPress
