The baptismal font used for Barbara Koob’s baptism in 1838 can still be found in St. Peter’s Church in Heppenheim, Germany. (Courtesy Sister Malia Dominica Wong, OP)
A newly merged parish in Heppenheim is named for the Franciscan sister
By Celia K. Downes
Hawaii Catholic Herald
Veneration of St. Marianne Cope extends far beyond the islands where her life of service has had a lasting, indelible impact.
A number of parishes and Catholic communities (in which two or more churches are united under a larger umbrella parish) on the U.S. East Coast are named in honor of St. Marianne, who dedicated her life in Honolulu and Kalaupapa to caring for Hansen’s disease patients and their families alongside her fellow Franciscan sisters.
On Jan. 1, the German city where St. Marianne was born Barbara Koob in 1838 became the site of another parish named in her honor.
Four parishes in Heppenheim, which is situated in Germany’s west, merged into one which bears the name Heilige (Saint) Marianne Cope Heppenheim.
The occasion will be officially celebrated Jan. 12 with a service at St. Peter’s Church, the largest and oldest of the four and where Barbara Koob was baptized on Jan. 24, 1838, one day after she was born.
Barbara and her family moved to Utica, New York, when she was 2 years old, and she later assumed the Americanized version of her last name — Cope — when she became a Franciscan novice. At the time she also took on the name Mary Anna, which evolved into Marianne.
St. Peter’s has been designated the main church of the new parish, according to its pastor, Father Thomas Meurer.
The other three churches are St. Michael, St. Bartholomew and Epiphany of the Lord. The new united parish will include about 9,000 faithful, Father Meurer said, adding that the four individual churches will still retain their names and patronages.
(For example, in New York, one St. Marianne Cope Parish comprises two parishes: St. Thomas of Canterbury Church in Cornwall on Hudson and St. Joseph Church in New Windsor.)
In an email interview with the Hawaii Catholic Herald, Father Meurer said it is not easy to merge four separate parishes that each have their own traditions.
Thus, the pastoral council of Heppenheim, which oversaw the unification, decided to choose a new patronage “which may connect us all together despite all the differences.”
“We noted that there is only one choice: Sister Marianne Cope, born in our town, who later became a great saint and great example for Christian life,” he said.
“What she did to help the people with Hansen’s disease, together with Franciscan sisters, and her courage to go to Kalaupapa … all this impresses us very much. We hope that we can learn from her to listen well to which tasks God calls us (to) in the present.”
Father Meurer said that just 25 years ago, Heppenheim was not very familiar with St. Marianne and her origins there as Barbara Koob. He said his predecessor introduced the veneration of St. Marianne, including by attending her beatification in Rome in 2005 and donating a statue of her upon his retirement.
In 2012, when she was canonized, a small group of Heppenheim residents was in attendance at St. Peter’s Square, according to Father Meurer. And a few years ago, the city’s municipal authorities named a large garden after St. Marianne.
Father Meurer said he is “very happy” about the decision to name the new Heppenheim parish after St. Marianne.
“I personally adore Mother Marianne (very) much,” he said. “Many parishioners and I are very proud to have a saint who comes from our city.”
Father Meurer recalled visiting Kalaupapa years ago and standing at St. Marianne’s grave, reading on her tombstone that she was born “in Heppenheim, Germany.”
“In this moment I felt the link between these two places, Hawaii and Heppenheim, which are separated by thousands of miles. … I hope the link between Heppenheim and Hawaii will be strengthened” following the Jan. 12 ceremony.
The interview with Father Meurer was facilitated by Franciscan Sister Davilyn Ah Chick, who will travel to Heppenheim for the Jan. 12 celebration.
