In Pace Christi

Fr. Anton was a remarkable personality just for the powerful voice he had which could hardly go unnoticed. He was born on 8 July 1934 in the small town of Rabenstein/Corvara in Passiria, in the diocese of Bolzano/Bressanone, the second of 14 children. In 1947 he was accepted as a pupil at the Milland mission house. He was one of the first group of students who attended the Xaverianum which had reopened the previous year, after the Second World War. Each day the group would set out to walk to the Vinzentinum to attend secondary school. Intellectually gifted, Anton completed his secondary studies in 1955. He then went to the novitiate in Bamberg, Germany, and took first vows on 29 September 1957.

He then returned to Bressanone to commence his theological studies at the diocesan major seminary. On 25 December 1960 he consecrated himself to the mission with perpetual vows. On 29 June 1961, Bishop Josef Gargitter ordained him to the priesthood in Bressanone cathedral.

One year later, Fr. Anton left for the mission of South Africa. In those days, the diocese of Witbank was the sole field of work of the Comboni Missionaries in that country. He studied English at Middleburg and then Northern Sotho in Glen Cowie. He worked at that mission until 1967. Right from the start, Fr. Anton took an interest in the culture and language of the Bapedi whose language he learnt very well due to his daily contact with the people.

In 1967 he attended a six-month course at Lumko Missiological Research and Training Institute in the diocese of Queenstown, in view of an inculturated method of pastoral ministry.

Having completed the course, Fr. Anton was assigned to the vast parish of Acornhoek. There he had to learn another language, Shangaan. After a short time, he initiated a weaving project, with the help of Sister Cassiani Theiss, a Marianhill Missionary Sister and an expert in projects of that sort. Many women found work as weavers and earned enough to support their families. His mission companion was Fr. Angelo Matordes who belonged to the Italian group of Comboni Missionaries. This was a good preparation for the reunion of the two Institutes in 1979. The mission of Acornhoek suffered greatly on account of the war in Mozambique which had broken out the previous year. Many people fled that country and found refuge and support at Acornhoek and in many other places in South Africa.

In 1975 the Pastoral Centre at Maria Trost was opened with Fr. Anton as its first director. The centre developed rapidly and well and is still functioning with may activities and courses. In 1980 Fr. Anton was assigned to the DSP and placed in charge of mission promotion in the area of Mellatz. He was later appointed superior of the community.

In 1987 he returned to South Africa and took charge of the parish of Schoonoord. There Fr. Anton built the parish church, a training centre for the laity, a home for the blind and a carpentry shop, Various German lay volunteers worked with him in those projects.

In 2001 Fr. Anton withdrew to Silverton (Pretoria) for a sort of Sabbatical Year during which he was in contact with professors and other university people. While there he expanded his knowledge of South African culture by reading and attending lectures and seminars.

Toward the end of July 2003, he accepted the invitation of Bishop Paul Mogale Nkhumishe of Pietersburg/Polokwane, and former Bishop of Witbank, to build the "Mater Dei Pastoral Centre" in his diocese, on the pattern of Maria Trost. He successfully completed the project and, in 2008, took charge of the parish of Sovenga while at the same time working as chaplain to the University of Turflopp (now Limpopo University). It was there that, in 2011, he celebrated his Golden Jubilee of priesthood. A year later, Bishop Paul Nkhumishe died, and Fr. Anton returned to the diocese of Witbank.

After a few years alone in the mission of Apél/Sekhukhune, he went to Gugulethu, Elukwatini, as chaplain. Fr. Karl Kuppelwieser, his seminary companion, had built a retirement home there which was run by the Benedictine Sisters of St. Alban. Fr. Anton made himself available ministering to the Sisters and to the elderly.

He was now 84 years old and had various health problems. He therefore returned to the DSP in 2018, where he went to the Centre for Sick and Elderly Confreres in Ellwangen, still hoping to return to South Africa. He suspended his medical treatment for a few weeks to go and visit his relatives. While he was with them, he suffered a severe stroke from which he never recovered. He died in the Marienklinik of Bolzano on 7 December 2019, at the age of 85. He was buried in Rabenstein cemetery in the town where he was born.
Da Mccj Bulletin n. 282 Suppl. In Memoriam, gennaio 2020 pp. 125-129.