After working for three and half years in our center for ongoing formation in Nemi, I came to Oies in May of 2022. The Italian Province of the SVD was looking for a confrere interested in working at a very significant place of our Society: the birthplace of Joseph Freinademetz.
I knew this place quite well, since I came to Oies already many times, even before I joined our Congregation. Coming from a village in southern Bavaria, surrounded by mountains, I was looking forward to a place to live and work so close to nature. Already in my years of formation I’ve got interested, even fascinated, for the life of Joseph Freinademetz. Now I had a chance to live in the place where he was born and brought up, and where he is venerated so much by the local people. This is, actually, what struck me most during the two years I stayed in Oies. That so many people come to this place to pray to this saint.
He came from a humble family, from a remote village, but by the grace of God and the help of others he could become a priest. This year we are celebrating 150 years of his ordination. He became a missionary who dedicated his entire life to spreading the Good News in faraway China.
Living in the house of Saint Joseph Freinademetz
For the people in Tirol, especially the Ladinos, the minority he belonged to, Freinademetz was “one of us”, “our saint”, who never forgot his roots, his family and friends, his beloved homeland. His many private letters from China are a strong testimony for that. He never came back to his native place, out of his love for his Chinese, with whom he fell in love so much.
My work in Oies was to help and guide the pilgrims, as well as administrate the pilgrimage center. It was and is important that his birthplace and the sanctuary is not a museum, but a place where small groups of SVD missionaries live and witness to the pilgrims the ongoing importance of mission and the ongoing service of our SVD congregation for the worldwide mission.
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Michael Ertl, SVD
Michael Ertl was born in Germany in 1966. He entered the Congregation of the Divine Word in 1989. After training as a pastoral assistant and professing perpetual vows in St. Gabriel (Vienna), he spent three years in Chile, where he worked in parish and school pastoral. Back in Europe, he spent 14 years in a contemplative community in Belgium and served as novice master in Berlin. From 2018-2022 he was Spiritual Director of the “Centro Ad Gentes” in Nemi. In 2022 he was transferred to ITA and since then he lives in the house of St. Joseph Freinademetz in Oies. Since July of 2024 he is a member of the General Counsel.
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