Tobias Pastötter is 31 years old and a priest.
This weekend he is celebrating his post-prime in Haar.
First of all, he explains here why he has decided to devote his life to the Church.
Hair
- shortage of priests, leaving the church, abuse scandals. The Catholic Church no longer has the status it did decades ago. The requirements, such as the amalgamation of parish associations, make the work of the clergy more difficult. And last but not least, there is celibacy, the obligation to live without a wife and without children. And yet there are young men who become priests and are passionate about this profession. Tobias Pastötter, 31 years old, is one of them.
At the end of June Pastötter was ordained a priest in Munich Cathedral by Archbishop Reinhard Marx, and in a few weeks he will take up his position as chaplain in Ampfing.
He is thus a priest in the parish association, but he is not its boss, i.e. pastor.
He celebrates his post-prime this Saturday in the St. Konrad in Haar (7 p.m.).
But what motivates a young man today to dedicate his life to the Church and to God?
Work colleague: "That never suited you, you belong to the people out"
Tobias Pastötter has known since he was a little boy that the priesthood is his vocation, although "our family was never super pious and just went to church on Sundays". He starts out as an altar boy and enjoys church fellowship. But the three-year-older brother Bernhard snatches his dream job away from him for the time being. “He had the same wish as I did.” Therefore, Tobias Pastötter decided to train as a technical draftsman, “because I didn't want to do that to my parents, so that their second child would also opt for the priesthood”.
But he doesn't really enjoy the office work, and a colleague also tells him after the ordination, "That never suited you, you belong to the people out there". A clarifying conversation with the parents clears the way for Tobias Pastötter, he catches up with his high school diploma and goes on to study theology. Before the final ordination to the priesthood, Pastötter examines himself and his decision again. He went to Ecuador for a year to see Padre Martin Schlachtbauer, pastor of the German-speaking community of San Miguel in Ecuador's capital Quito, the partner diocese of the Archdiocese of Munich-Freising. Pastötter comes back stronger than ever in faith, completes the two-year pastoral course in Haar, which is the practical part of training with Pastor Kilian-Thomas Semel. A year later he becomes a deacon, assists in baptisms or weddings and is active in pastoral care.
Responsible for 8000 Catholics
Then on June 26th the big day.
He kneels on the floor in Munich Cathedral and is ordained a priest with the laying on of hands and prayer by the Archbishop.
“An indescribable moment, very deeply and with infinite gratitude,” Pastötter describes.
His primary saying, “I can do everything through the one who strengthens me”, is more present than ever.
He stepped out of the brother's shadow that day, "ready to cast my own shadow."
A parish association with five parishes and 8,000 Catholics awaits him in Ampfing. “There is a lot to do there.” For him, contact with people is essential, “talking, taking time and being there”. Everything else will show up, because a lot, such as youth work, broke down recently and must be rebuilt. That he will spend the rest of his life without a family of his own does not frighten him. Because: “I'm not alone.” Everyone would have to carry their pack, but it's about how you tackle it.
And he will not be alone, because Pastötter moves with Stefan Schmitt, also a new priest, into a priestly flat in the renovated parsonage in Oberbergkirchen.
The 31-year-old is "already very much looking forward to it, because we both share a passion for cooking".
But since the small town of Oberbergkirchen is not the same as Munich, he is curious to see how the priest flat will be received in the country.
"But that doesn't make me different from many others who just drive to work every day."
You can find more news from Haar and the district of Munich here.