Biography

Bishop Frederick Kaiser

Federico Kaiser Depel MSC (1903-1993), founder of the Missionary Sisters of Jesus the Word and Victim and first bishop of the Prelature of Caravelí.

Biography

Childhood and vocational awakening (1903-1913)

Frederick Augustus Kaiser Depel was born on May 24, 1903 in Düelmen, Germany. His mother’s name was Wilhelmina and his father Joseph. Frederick was the third of five siblings: Maria, Joseph, Karl and Gertrude. He came from a family with deep Christian roots, which is why three days after his birth he was baptized in the church of St. Victor. He would remember this date throughout his life as the date of his true birth: May 27th. He used to say: “Blessed is the hour in which I was born, creature of God; more blessed a thousand times the hour in which I was baptized, son of God.”

His mother was his “first and best catechist,” as he called her. She knew how to instill in the souls of her children a great love for God. From his father he inherited a passion for reading. At the age of 3 or 4 years she felt for the first time the call to her vocation.

One day he saw the priest coming home to visit his paternal grandmother, who had been ill for some time and was living with them. He was very impressed by this personage in black cassock, who conversed with kindness and cordiality with his grandmother, but also with the little ones. Frequent visits turned this admiration into friendship.

However, what most impressed her young soul was to see the solemnity with which the priest was received every morning for the moment of her grandmother’s communion. Everything was well arranged for the sacred moment, little Fritz on his knees next to his mother. The priest in his white robe was about to give communion. It was there that for the first time an idea came to him that would determine his whole life: “That’s what I want to be. Just like that priest. But he said nothing to anyone about this precious secret.

His “first vocational difficulty” was when he discovered that this priest who visited his house had a kind of shining sun in his head. As soon as Father left, he ran to ask his mother what that priest had in his head. She answered him: “that is called tonsure”. As he was small and did not understand the meaning of these words very well, he began to repeat them in a different way, “tonsure? This endearing pronunciation could not contain Mama Guillermina’s laughter, who could not explain to him clearly what a tonsure was. Finally, she concluded the conversation by saying: “That’s what all priests have! Quickly, she went to a corner to see if he had it too. Great was his disappointment to find that his head was all covered with hair.

He started attending the state school “St. Joseph” in Düelmen, where he quickly learned to read and write. This left a deep mark on his life, as one of the things he loved most was reading, until it became a real passion. At the same time he began attending parish catechesis, where he understood the meaning of tonsure and affirmed his desire to one day become a priest. Soon after, he received his first communion.

One day a magazine of a missionary congregation came into his hands. He was enthusiastic about the stories of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart in Hiltrup, a town 35 km from Dülmen. This reading awakened in him a double longing: to be a priest and a missionary. But he continued to hide this “secret” from everyone, as his most precious treasure.

Its secret uncovered (1914- 1918)

In 1914 the First World War broke out (1914-1918). The whole of Germany was suffering under the weight of a great economic crisis, which affected everyone, including the Kaiser family. Nevertheless, the Church continued to be a spiritual support for everyone in these difficult times. Thus, in 1916, in the middle of the war, Frederick, at the age of thirteen, received the sacrament of confirmation along with 1600 other young people.

He was a very good student. In 1916, Frederick finished elementary school with excellent grades. The school principal recommended to his father to give his son a higher education. At that time, not everyone could continue studying. Generally, after finishing elementary school, young people began to work, without studies. That is why, in February 1917, he went to the office of the “Prince Rudolph” hardware and engineering works in his hometown to do his internship as a clerk. In his work he was obedient, helpful, humble and reliable, according to the testimony of those who knew him.

When he was about fifteen, in 1918, his mother discovered that he wanted to become a priest. “Do you want to be a priest?” she asked him one day when the two of them were alone at home. Although the question surprised the young Frederick, he did not hesitate to answer, “Yes, Mom, I want to be a priest.” What followed was a deep silence and the emotion of a mother, who thanked Heaven for this wonderful gift. Well, let’s see”, was his answer, because his family was living in a very tight economic situation, as a consequence of the First World War. For this he would have to continue his studies in a private school and pay board and lodging.

His parents then decided that Federico would abandon his commercial internship and with private lessons he would make up for the time he had missed. After consulting with the priest, Father Müller, who was in charge of vocations in his parish, he began the process of entering the minor seminary of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart.

 

Seminarian: a proven vocation (1919-1931)

On the feast of Christ, the King in 1919, Frederick entered the Minor Seminary where he did his secondary studies, with Latin, French and Greek, which he learned with great ease. He immediately got along very well with the Fathers and his confreres. Several years of study followed and everything went well. He dreamed of reaching the goal: after high school would come the Novitiate, Diaconate and Priesthood. However, his health began to weaken noticeably.

Unfortunately, very close to the final exams he felt so bad that Father Superior decided to send him home to recuperate. After some time he returned to his studies and managed to finish high school. Weeks later, in the summer of 1924, he entered the MSC as a novice.

At the end of the first year of the novitiate, again his health broke down and this time the doctor advised him to rest for at least a year. His mother, accompanied the suffering and pain of seeing her son not being able to fulfill his desire to become a priest. Frederick often visited the tomb of Blessed Anna Katharina Emerick in his hometown of Dülmen. He asked her to help him attain the grace of the priesthood, and the Blessed’s intercession was not long in coming.

She met a good doctor who made her understand that sometimes human nature does not follow the desires of the spirit, so he advised her: FIRM IN DECISION, BUT SOFT IN MODE. In this way God forged the future master of souls.  In 1926 he returned again and had to restart the novitiate. From then on he never missed an hour of class. His greatest joy was the study of the Bible. He called it the WORD OF GOD made letter, the portable tabernacle where we meet God. In 1930 she professed her perpetual vows.

 

Priest forever (1932-1938)

On March 20, 1932, he was ordained a deacon. And finally the great day arrived: on August 10 of that same year he was ordained priest in the cathedral of Paderbon. “Thank God, no one can take this away from me now,” he prayed while the bishop, Kaspar Klein, laid his hands on him. He never doubted that this was a divine gift achieved through the intercession of Blessed Anne Catherine Emerick, to whom he had recourse during his illness and the offering of life made by his good mother so that her son would become a priest. In 1928 his mother had died, so only his father and siblings attended the ceremony.

On August 15, 1932, he celebrated his first mass in Düelmen with the participation of his siblings and many people from the town. As a priest he applied in time to go on mission to China, and if this was not possible, he could work in Oceania or North America, where his MSC Congregation already had several parishes.

His superiors decided that he should prepare himself for the task of retreat master, but this did not work out, as he was soon sent to the central house as assistant in the provincial administration. All his illusions of being a missionary vanished. The question that then weighed on him like a mountain was whether he would ever be able to go to distant lands in search of souls for Christ.

Later, during the Second World War, when the Nazis took the Provincial Superior and Administrator prisoner, he took over the administration of the province, a position he held for seven years. His days were spent between the pulpit as a preacher and in the office; he gave himself no respite to serve everyone with exquisite charity. The political climate in Germany was becoming darker and darker, also for the religious orders. As provincial treasurer he confronted the Nazis and was able to win a trial to free two brothers unjustly imprisoned by National Socialism.

 

And finally Missionary (1939- 1956)

In 1938 two MSC Fathers traveled to Peru for the first time. Father Kaiser’s longing to go on mission to distant lands was still intact, but he was still needed as Administrator of the Congregation. He remained in this position for seven years. However, he always saw in this the will of God. To these two confreres he procured the things they were to take to this new mission. He accompanied them to the ship and saw them off. He saw the ship leaving for the high seas where his confreres and his missionary illusions were going. Good news was coming from Peru and above all the news that they needed reinforcements. How happy he was when his superior told him that he would be the next to go to Peru.

The ship arrived at the port of Callao-Peru on April 22, 1939. Now his heart felt happy, because his longing to be a priest and a missionary was fulfilled. In Lima he met his confreres who still had no house of their own, no parish and no money. However, they lived very united and laughed a lot.

From the beginning he was attracted by the Peruvian way of being, he said: “I like Peru and its people. Here I will stay and soon I will become a Peruvian citizen. Here I want to work and die”. Language was never an obstacle for him. His desire to help his faithful, who sought him out for his simplicity and kindness, made them take advantage of every free moment to learn it.

In Lima he worked as a missionary visiting the slums and villages of the interior. He also worked as a religion teacher in secondary schools and wrote a book for them. In 1939 he was sent for a few months to Huanuco, where he worked as spiritual director in the seminary. Afterwards, for almost a year he worked as a cooperating vicar in a parish in Ica. In September of that same year, the Second World War broke out and there was no communication with Germany. But in spite of all the suffering this caused him, because his whole family was there at the time, he did not hesitate to put everything in God’s hands. With filial trust he said to Jesus one day, “Lord, I will take care of your affairs here in Peru and You, please take care of mine there in Germany.” With this trust he gave himself entirely to his priestly work in Lima.

On February 26, 1944, Monsignor Pascual Farfán, Archbishop of Lima, gave the title of vice-parish to the public chapel annexed to the community of the MSC Fathers, naming it the vice-parish of San Felipe. Father Federico was named the first assistant pastor of the parish and ran it until 1948. He worked tirelessly, happily and fervently, because he had a vast flock that left him no time to rest. Soon he realized that the small chapel was not enough for all his parishioners and began the construction of a new temple.

During his long stay in Lima, Father Kaiser was an advisor to the Catholic Action for Girls’ Youth, at the archdiocesan and national level (from 1950 to 1956); he promoted the biblical movement and was its apostle. In addition, he taught biblical theology courses at the Riva Agüero Institute of the Catholic University of Lima. His love for the Bible led him to create biblical study groups and to give biblical conferences at the Catholic University. The result of these meetings are his books: “Te llama la Biblia”, “Contesta la Biblia”, “Vamos a Jesús”, etc. After some years he published “The Biblical Message”. He worked as confessor, spiritual director and retreat director in several women’s congregations.

In the midst of all his pastoral work in Lima, his priestly heart suffered for other souls who did not belong to his parish but who did not belong to others either, that is to say, for those who live far away where there was no priest. He could never forget the words of that lady in Ica, who, after going to confession, saw him crying loudly in the church. When he asked her why she was crying, he heard her complaint: “I am from up there, from the Andes. There we don’t have a priest. There I will die one day like the others, without a priest, without confession, without communion, without extreme unction. Father Federico understood these words as the “Cry of the Andes” crying out for priests.

He wanted to make Christ’s love reach everyone, so he organized missions in the area neighboring his parish, Lobatón. He promised to build them a church. And he kept his promise: The Shrine of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart.

Father, Pastor and Founder (1957- 1987)

At the beginning of 1957 he was appointed Provincial Administrator and superior of the Lima community. At the end of the same year Rome named him the first Prelate of the new Prelature of Caravelí.  On March 8, 1958, he arrived in Caravelí and began the great work of his life. He found very little: a semi-destroyed cathedral, few priests, no sisters, much hunger for God. Without wasting time he visited the whole Prelature bringing the grace of God through the sacraments, without worrying about the fatigue of those impassable roads. He realized the urgent need for more priests. He looked for them first in Europe, but did not find them. He built a minor seminary to promote local vocations. He dedicated himself with care to train catechists to help in places where the priest could not reach.

At the same time, he built a kindergarten that later became a school, the cathedral and the simple prelatic house where he lived, a convent for the Missionary Mothers of the Sacred Heart, a place where the Mothers ministered to the people, a water dam to help the peasants, etc. But the clamor of the Andes did not cease.

Then she conceived the idea of founding a religious Congregation whose special purpose would be to share the abandonment of the people and to mitigate the hunger for God, through the teaching of religious truths, the celebration of the Word, the administration of baptism, assistance to marriages, care of the sick and dying, formation of catechists, that is, everything for which holy orders are not required. And on June 22, 1961, he erected the Pious Union of the Missionary Sisters of Jesus, Word and Victim, a name taken from his insignia as Prelate and which he ratified in his episcopal consecration. This same spirituality was embodied in its foundation: to lead a life consecrated to Jesus Word and Victim in teaching and penitent charity.

From 1962 to 1965, Bishop Kaiser actively participated in the four stages of the Second Vatican Council. There he made a dramatic request: Priests where there are none. While in Rome, in 1963, His Holiness Paul VI appointed him titular bishop of Berea. He was 60 years old and the first German bishop in Peru. Thus, on December 7, 1963, he was consecrated Bishop in the Church of St. Victor, in his hometown.

In his pastoral bulletins he informed his priests about the progress of the sessions and at the end of the Council he updated them on the new Council decrees and constitutions. With great zeal he wanted his priests and faithful to comply with the dispositions of the last Council.

With gratitude to God, he watched the growth of his work and on March 25, 1971, he made it a Congregation of diocesan right. The young foundation began its missionary work in the Prelature of Caravelí and in other dioceses of Peru. That same year, for health reasons, he presented to Rome his request to resign as Bishop of Caravelí. His Holiness, Pope Paul VI, accepted his resignation and on May 25, 1971, he ceased his work as Ordinary of the Prelature of Caravelí.

From then on, he dedicated himself entirely to the formation of his religious with the help of Mother Willibrordis MJVV, who accompanied him from the beginning of the foundation. It is the golden age of the Servant of God in which, through sermons, retreats, conferences and writings, such as the beautiful allegory of King Love, he expressed all his spiritual richness, leaving it as a legacy to his daughters. On September 14, 1982, Rome elevated her foundation of Missionaries of Jesus Word and Victim to a Congregation of Pontifical Right.

 

To the Father’s House (1988-1993)

In January 1988, at the age of 84, he suffered a cerebral embolism that attacked his speech center. Then what he had said before became a reality: after having spoken so much to men about God, he now spoke to God about men.  In the Cenacle retreat, he spent his last days in fervent prayer and penance. But he put all his efforts into learning to read and write again. Great was his joy when in September of the same year he was able to celebrate Holy Mass again, until September 25, 1993, when from noon onwards he felt unwell, and his condition worsened rapidly. She repeated: LONG LIVE CHRIST THE KING, and looking at her religious around her, she told them: “Do not forget LOVE, do not forget your TEACHING AND PENITENT CHARITY, do not forget that you are MISSIONARIES”.

On September 26, 1993, the Lord called her to Himself. It was a Sunday and while in the different parishes the biblical week was beginning; he who loved Jesus so much, no longer needed the Bible to continue to know Christ, because he was already seeing Him face to face. He was buried in the town cemetery, in the midst of his children from Caracas. Since 2003 his remains rest in the Cenacle Convent of Caravelí, Mother House of the Missionary Sisters of Jesus the Word and Victim, where many devotees come trusting in his valuable intercession before God.

On September 28, 2018, the Archbishop of Lima and Primate of Peru, Cardinal Juan Luis Cipriani Thorne opened the process on the life, virtues and reputation for holiness of the Servant of God, Monsignor Federico Kaiser Depel MSC, first bishop of the Prelature of Caravelí and founder of the Congregation of the Missionary Sisters of Jesus the Word and Victim.