RIP: 15/1/2023 - Mistelbach
Fr. Albert (Johann) Gabriel was born on 6 February 1936 at St. Peter am Wimberg (Mühlviertel) in the district of Rohrbach in Upper Austria. For his secondary studies, he went to the Salvatorian boardingschool at Lochau. Once he finished them, he was accepted to the novitiate in Passau, which he finished professing his first vows of chastity, obedience, and poverty on 10 June 1956. He remained also for his Philosophical and Theological studies in Passau. He was ordained a priest in his home parish, on 24 April 1962. In his apostolic life, two main fields can be distinguished but never seperated: pastoral work in parishes as vicar and parish priest and education and teaching. He worked over the years in different places, especially in Graz and Vienna. For many years Fr. Albert was a gifted religious education teacher and pastor with a special feeling for young people’s questions. His way of pastoral care was critical, courageous, unconventional, inspiring, sometimes also disturbing. Undaunted, Fr Albert pointed to the One who is the life and the future, the Saviour of the world. The Church in Vienna and Caritas owe to him and some of his students the foundation of the “Gruft” in Vienna-Mariahilf. In our religious community he was a constant reminder to love poverty. Fr. Albert passed away on 15 January 2023 at Mistelbach. He was 86 years old and had been a Salvatorian for 66 years.
