Leopold Baumberger (35) from Steyr becomes the new abbot at Wilten Abbey

2023-05-08 14:03:00

The Wilten Abbey in Innsbruck has a new abbot in the young Upper Austrian. Leopold Baumberger succeeds Raimund Schreier, who had to resign from office after 30 years at the age of 70. Innsbruck’s diocesan bishop Hermann Glettler congratulated the newly elected abbot, according to Kathpress: “I am convinced that the youthfulness of the appointed abbot is a clear signal to place responsibility for large church tasks in the hands of young people.”

Baumberger, who was born in Steyr, wants to cultivate the traces of faith in Wilten that go back to Roman times. “This tradition is a living treasure entrusted to us. Each generation has a mandate to continue writing this story,” he said. Wilten should be a place of faith “for many more generations to come”.

Studied in Graz and Innsbruck

Baumberger first studied pharmacy at the University of Graz and passed the pharmacist examination. He then began studying Catholic theology at the University of Innsbruck as a seminarian for the diocese of Linz. There he got to know the order of the Premonstratensians in Wilten Abbey and entered there in 2014. After his final profession at Wilten Abbey in 2018, he was ordained a deacon and a priest in 2019.