Innsbruck, January 29, 2023 (KAP) The Sunday service in Innsbruck’s Jakobsdom was dedicated to the memory of Reinhold Stecher. Bishop Hermann Glettler and the Bishop Stecher Memorial Association commemorated the long-serving Bishop of Innsbruck, whose death was 10 years old on January 29th.

According to a broadcast by the Innsbruck diocese, Glettler referred to childhood memories in his sermon, which Reinhold Stecher said had had a strong influence on him. As a six-year-old, his parents taught him to always treat other people with respect and consideration. “That was a lasting, lasting programming of his soul,” says Bishop Glettler. Jesus also had this “new programming” in mind with the beatitudes of his Sermon on the Mount. These are “exciting and at the same time overwhelming principles for a civilization of love,” emphasized Glettler.

The Beatitudes are also a counter-image to negative inner programming from childhood days. Glettler mentioned phrases like “The end justifies the means. Don’t put up with anything. You have to assert yourself under all circumstances”. Such imprints are often unconscious and it is not easy to free oneself from them. “It is very important to practice patient communication that is as non-aggressive as possible,” emphasized Glettler.

Bishop Stecher, who experienced Nazi terror and war himself, spent his life trying to gain a deeper understanding of Jesus’ message of peace. As a teacher and in teacher training, as well as a storyteller and preacher, he “broadened horizons and programmed countless hearts – to the end with creative words and strong images.”

At the end of the sermon, Bishop Glettler recalled eight Beatitudes in a contemporary formulation and at the same time recalled the standpoints that Reinhold Stecher had represented.

After the celebration of the Eucharist, Bishop Glettler said a prayer in front of Reinhold Stecher’s grave in the crypt of the cathedral. The crypt remained open for prayer and commemoration on Sunday.