Book is in the tradition of Don Camillo

Created: 01/06/2023 07:04

By: Andreas Daschner

The Grafrather's new book brings together 31 stories.

© Renate Schlögl

Village gossip, tradition and literary fantasy: These are the ingredients of the new book "Hoppla, Hochdigen!" by the Grafrather author Heiner Graf.

Grafrath - In it he tells stories about village priests - to make you smile and sometimes laugh out loud.

The fact that the collection of stories is being published at a time when the church is once again in the spotlight due to allegations of abuse is not entirely unintentional.

"However, I don't want to add to the abuse debacle," emphasizes Graf.

"I see it more as an opportunity to take some pressure off those who didn't cause it at all." He himself has often experienced pastors as helpful, committed and also humorous.

The keyword for the 31 stories is humorous.

"I see my pastor stories a bit in the tradition of Don Camillo and Peppone or Pastor Braun," says Graf.

He is not concerned with the exclusive documentation of regional stories - which is why poetic freedom flows in.

Long-established people could still recognize one or the other figure as a pastor who was active earlier.

However, under a different name.

"For reasons of data protection, I do not mention the real names."

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Graf has been collecting the anecdotes since the 1970s and 1980s.

"Over time, there were more and more, so I made the decision to publish them as a collection." Some of the stories have even been on the radio as part of the program "Der Sonntagswecker" on Bayerischer Rundfunk.

Despite all the cheerfulness, Graf insists on packing a bit of church criticism into his stories.

"Hidden between the lines is my personal view that celibacy should be abolished," says Grafrather.

Apart from that, Graf lets people really get involved and gives an insight into the way of life of the past, when people in the village lived quite closely with the pastor.

"He was a much more part of the village community than today," says author Heiner Graf.

And: "A pastor is just a person."

information

The book "Hoppla, Father!" is available for 12.90 euros in the Wagner bookshop in Fürstenfeldbruck, at the Edeka supermarkets in Grafrath and Moorenweis, at Ammersee-Verlag or at Amazon, there also as an e-book.

You can find more current news from the district of Fürstenfeldbruck at Merkur.de/Fürstenfeldbruck.