In Pace Christi

On the eve of Thanksgiving, a beautiful golden autumn day, Fr. Franz Xaver Bühler was taken home by the Lord just as one brings home a ripe fruit. From the day he took the habit he belonged to the Comboni missionaries for 55 years, 37 of which he served as a priest. On October 5, his fulfilled life carne to an end. When, at the end of 1984, he had to give up his activities as a priest for health reasons, his working energy was exhausted. It was hard for him to have to spend the evening of his life unable to carry out any priestly activity.

Facts of his life

Fr. Franz Xaver Bühler was born on September 4, 1913, in Unterschneidheim, Württemberg. The Christian families of Unterschneidheim have given our community many priests and vocations. Together with Franz Xaver Schmid, a fellow-Unterschneidheimer and namesake, he was one of the first from this locality in the Ellwangen area, in 1927, to join the Comboni Missionaries at Ellwangen. There he attended the gymnasium. At Brixen, South Tyrol, he did his novitiate and also his studies in philosophy" On the Feast of St. Peter and Paul's, on June 29, 1939, he was ordained to the priesthood in the Brixen cathedral. World War II broke out shortly afterwards. Most of our houses were requisitioned for military purposes.

Fr. Bühler carried out parish work in the Ellvangen area from 1939 to 1949. From 1949 to 1955, he was the rector of our seminary at Bad Mergentheim which produced relatively numerous and solid religious vocations. Subsequently, from 1955 to 1960, he was the spiritual director of our scholastics in Rome, viale Vaticano 50. He did not feel at all inclined to this task, and it cost him much sacrifice and self-denial. He felt that too much was requested of him and he accepted the delicate assignment out of mere obedience. He stayed on faithfully for five years. How deeply he suffered inwardly under this burden we can only surmise. In spite of his best efforts, he was never able really to become familiar with the Italian language. However, the fact that the superiors chose him for this appointment shows how great a trust they had in Fr. Bühler.

After his return from Rome he served for a year as the rector of the seminary at Nuemarkt and, subsequently, for about 9 years, as the rector of our seminar at Unterpremstatten. He earned great merit for the restoration of that house which had suffered much from war events. German, Russian and English soldiers had camped for some time at the Unterpremstatten Castle and left it in desolate conditions. With much zeal and patience he restored the building so that one could again live in it and it could be sold, at a later date, for a good price. With the proceeds from the sale a smaller house was built at Messendorf. In 1970, Fr. Bühler took over the parish of Grosskuchen near Reidenheim in the county of Aalen.

In 1984, his physical condition weakened so much that he had to give up his parish activity. He moved to Josefstal where he spent a restful evening of his life.

The faithful servant

The Gospel speaks again and again of the faithful servant whom the Lord praises for his faithfulness in small matters and his faithfulness till death. Such faithfulness is something great in which God takes pleasure. Of Fr. Bühler we can say: he was faithful and conscientious in all the duties he was entrusted with: as a priest, as a superior, as an administrator or spiritual director in our community. One could trust his word. His yes was a yes, his no a no. He did not like big words and rhetoric. For him what mattered was the character stature of a human being and one's actions. Faithfulness towards his priesthood and his religious life was his fundamental attitude. He never sought recognition or praise, but did whatever his conscience told him was right, even if, sometimes, it appeared to some as hard. He was also hard on himself. Whoever saw and searched for the priest in Fr. Bühler held him in very high esteem. His confreres, too, witnessed again and again how seriously he took his priestly office. he was a priest throughout. Due to the formation he had received he had some difficulty in understanding and adjusting to the process of renewal set in motion in the Church as a result of the Council. Our present-day image of the priest is more modelled on Christ the good shepherd shining with God's love and bringing into vision the divine element in man as it turns towards humanity. Although this shepherd's love of Christ was alive in him, he had been shaped by a somewhat different priestly image where sacrifice, renunciation, self-denial and mortification were more prominent. He had grown up in and was marked by this priest-image, but he also lived it consistently and faithfully. We can be confident that God has accepted the sacrifice of his life. Wherever Fr. Bühler worked, there are signs that his sacrifice has borne fruits. We can perhaps interpret his dying on Thanksgiving in this light. The burial was held during the last provincial assembly so that many confrères could give him the last farewell. As a faithful servant he many now partake in God's eternal Banquet. We thank him for the example of priestly fidelity, for his self-denying service in the community of the Comboni Missionaries and for his sacrifice in his life which, by the power of God, may bear the Church and our Institute many good fruits, for only the wheat seed that dies yields fruit in abundance.  

Da Mccj Bulletin n. 153, aprile 1987, pp. 43-44

P. Bühler Franz Xaver (04.09.1913 – 05.10.1986)

Am Vorabend des Erntedankfestes hat der Herr P. Franz Xaver Bühler als reife Frucht zu sich genommen. 55 Jahre lang, die beiden Noviziatsjahre eingeschlossen, war er Comboni-Missionar und 47 Jahre hat er als Priester gedient. Am 5. Oktober 1986 hat er uns verlassen. Als er 1984 aus Gesundheitsgründen seine priesterliche Tätigkeit aufgeben musste, war er am Ende seiner Kräfte. Er litt darunter, dass er seinen Lebensabend ohne priesterlichen Dienst verbringen musste.

P. Franz Xaver Bühler kam am 4. September 1913 in Unterschneidheim, Baden-Württemberg zur Welt. Die christliche Gemeinde von Unterschneidheim hat unserer Kongregation viele Priester und Brüder geschenkt. Mit P. Franz Xaver Schmid gehörte er zu den ersten der Gruppe, die sich 1927 aus dem Ellwanger Umfeld den Comboni-Missionaren anschloss. Nach dem Abschluss des Gymnasiums begann er 1932 in Brixen das Noviziat und legte am 9. September 1934 die erste Profess ab. Dann besuchte er am Priesterseminar von Brixen die Vorlesungen in Theologie. Am 25. Dezember 1938 legte er die ewigen Gelübde ab und am 29. Juni 1939 wurde er im Dom von Brixen zum Priester geweiht. Wegen des Ausbruchs des zweiten Weltkrieges konnte er nicht mehr in die Mission ausreisen. Die meisten unserer Häuser wurden damals für militärische Zwecke besetzt und der Seminarbetrieb musste eingestellt werden..

P. Bühler hat von 1939 bis 1949 in der Ellwanger Gegend in der Pfarrseelsorge gearbeitet. Von 1949 bis 1955 war er Rektor unseres Seminars in Bad Mergentheim, das der Kongregation eine Anzahl von guten Missionaren zugeführt hat. Dann wurde er von 1955 bis 1960 als Spiritual unserer Scholastiker im  Viale Vaticano 50 nach Rom versetzt. Er nahm diesen Posten nur schweren Herzens an und es kostete ihm ein bedeutendes Opfer und viel Selbstüberwindung. Er fühlte sich überfordert und nahm die Aufgabe nur aus purem Gehorsam an. Fünf Jahre lang erfüllte er diesen Dienst. Trotz großer Anstrengung gelang es ihm nicht, die italienische Sprache zu meistern. Dass ihn die Oberen trotzdem mit dieser Aufgabe betrauten, zeigt, dass sie großes Vertrauen in ihn hatten.

Nach seiner Rückkehr von Rom 1960 war er für kurze Zeit Rektor des Seminars von Neumarkt. Von 1961 bis 1970 war er Hausoberer und Erzieher im Seminar von Unterpremstätten. Das Haus wurde während des Krieges vom Militär besetzt und musste deshalb gründlich restauriert werden. Deutsche, russische und englische Soldaten hatten hintereinander das Haus benützt und hinterließen es in einem kläglichen Zustand.  P. Bühler ging an diese schwierige Arbeit heran und erntete viel Lob für die gelungene Restaurierung, die er mit viel Einsatz und Geduld geleitet hatte, so dass man wieder komfortabel darin wohnen konnte. Da es nun in einem guten Zustand war, konnte es in den achtziger Jahren gut verkauft und mit dem Erlös ein neues Seminar in Messendorf gebaut werden.

1970 übernahm P. Bühler die Pfarrei Grosskuchen im Distrikt Aalen. 1985 musste er die Pfarrei aus Alters- und Gesundheitsgründen abgeben und sich nach Josefstal zurückziehen, wo er seinen Lebensabend verbrachte. Er starb am 5. Oktober 1986.

P. Bühler erfüllte alle seine Aufgaben treu und gewissenhaft: als Priester, Hausoberer, Verwalter und Spiritual in unseren Häusern und als Pfarrer und Priester in der Seelsorge. Er suchte nie Anerkennung oder Lob. Vielen erschien er als eher rau und ernst und das war er auch. Aber wer ihn als Priester aufsuchte, mit ihm zu tun hatte, begann ihn zu schätzen. Wir danken ihm für sein priesterliches Beispiel treuer Pflichterfüllung.

Während unserer Provinzversammlung wurde P. Bühler zu Grabe getragen. Auf diese Weise konnten ihm viele Mitbrüder das letzte Geleit gehen. R.I.P.