Celebrants

The Berlin Jesuit Community, the White Fathers and the English Speaking Mission take care of our religious needs.

Our celebrants include:

Father Wolfgang Felber, SJ

I was born in 1960 in a small town in the most southern part of Bavaria, Bad Wörishofen (Wöris-hofen) - well known for the so-called "Kneipp-Cures", invented by a priest in the 19th century (hot and cold water, healthy food, physical exercise). This small town lies in a region where I could grow up with French- and Italian-speaking Swiss TV and radio, and this really gave me an interest in languages.
In 1980, I joined the Jesuits (Society of Jesus, SJ) in Nuremberg. A bit of philosophy, working with young people, some theology and a degree in Economics were offered to me by my order in different locations in Europe (Munich, Innsbruck, Paris, Mannheim).
I was ordained a priest in October, 1989 in Munich. I worked as an economist in Vienna, Austria (Catholic Social Academy of Austria)and then from 1997 in Brussels (at first only at our European Office OCIPE). Then I became more and more involved in pastoral work with EU civil servants, NATO staff and diplomats. I became director of "Foyer Catholique Européen", a "Europe en miniature". In time I learned that what was possible there is possible on the scale of the different countries, and what was difficult or impossible there is difficult or impossible on the scale of the countries.
Since August, 2009 I have been the business administrator of Canisius Kolleg in the district of Tiergarten, and I am happy to be able to leave the numbers, contracts and daily work challenges from time to time for the good spirit at All Saints. Here I discover not only a "Europe en miniature", but a "world en miniature" - and I really enjoy this.
Thank you all for your warm welcome.

Father Ralf Klein, SJ

Father Ralf was born in Wiesbaden close to Frankfurt in 1959. 25 years later he joined the Jesuits. He studied theology in Frankfurt, Münster and Jerusalem. In October 1990 he came to Berlin to teach Religious Education at the Canisius Kolleg. A few years later he went to university once again this time to study English. Having completed these studies he went to Australia for the last part of the Jesuit training in 2001. When he returned to Berlin six months later, he started teaching English as a Foreign Language. His work at All Saints is a good opportunity to keep up with spoken English.

Father Klaus Mertes, SJ

Born in Bonn, the second of five children, youth in Marseille and Paris (1956-63) and Moscow (1963-66) owing to father's diplomatic service
1966-73: student at Aloisius Kolleg in Bonn
1973-75: military service in Bundeswehr
1975-77: studies in Bonn (Slavic linguistics, Classical Philology)
1977-79: noviciat in the Jesuit Order in Muenster/Westphalia
1979-81: study of Philosophy at the Jesuit College of Philosophy in Munich
1981-83: youth work in Trier
1983-86:study of Theology Sankt Georgen in Frankfurt
1986: ordination and subsequent study at the University of Frankfurt
1988: first state exam in Latin
1990: second state exam in Religion and Latin
1990-93: teacher at Saint Ansgar School in Hamburg
1993-94: tertiat in Belfast, Northern Ireland
1994-2000: teacher at Canisius Kolleg in Berlin
2000 to present: rector at Canisius Kolleg in Berlin

Father Hans Jürgen Kleist, SJ

Hans Jürgen Kleist was born in 1957 in Saarbrücken, the capital of the smallest State of the Federal Republic of Germany. Here, near the border to France, he grow up. In 1975 he enrolled in a Jesuit boarding school in the Black Forest, named Kolleg St. Blasien (a Kolleg is about the same as a high school in the U.S. system). This was an important decision for the course of his life because after his philosophical-theological studies in the ancient Roman city of Trier he entered the Jesuit Novitiate in Nuremberg (1983 - 1985). After two years of regency (1985 - 1987) in his former secondary school, he went to Munich to study Mathematics and Psychology at the 'Ludwigs-Maximilians-Universität' (till 1993). He was ordained a priest in 1988 and also did some work at the Jesuit school of philosophy called the 'Hochschule für Philosophie'. He received practical training in teaching both Mathematics and Psychology and counseling Psychology at Augsburg and Freising (1993 - 1995). Since 1995 his main occupation has been that of a teacher and tutor in the Jesuit boarding school 'Kolleg St. Blasien'. When he returned after his tertianship in Manila, Philippines, he became teacher for Mathematics in the 'Canisius-Kolleg' in Berlin.

Father Herbert Gillessen

1940: Born in Cologne, the second of three children
1960: Studies of English, French and Spanish in Cologne, Madrid and Paris. State exam, doctorate
1966: Assistant Professor of French and Spanish at the Free University (FU) of Berlin
1975: Habilitation in Romance Philology
1975: Studies of Theology in Regensburg (Prof. Ratzinger) and Rome (Angelicum)
1980: Ordination to the priesthood in Berlin
1984: Parish priest of St Bernhard's, Berlin-Dahlem
2003: Pastor of the English-Speaking Mission
2005: Rector Ecclesiae of the Blessed Sacrament Chapel at All Saints

Father Adonis Llamas Narcelles Jr. SVD

Father Adonis Llamas Narcelles Jr. SVD was born in the northern Philippine Province of Pangasinan. He is the fourth child among seven children of Adonis Narcelles Sr. and Lily Llamas Narcelles. He grew up and went to school in Pozorrubio, Pangasinan. In 1988, he entered the Divine Word Formation Center-Urdaneta, as a seminarian of the Society of the Divine Word (SVD). Two years later, he went to Christ the King Mission Seminary where he finished his bachelor's degree in philosophy. He entered the Holy Spirit Novitiate in Calapan, Oriental Mindoro in 1994 and then pursued his theological studies at the Divine Word Seminary in Tagaytay City. In 1998, he went to the St. Augustine Mission Seminary in Sankt Augustin, Germany to continue his studies and finished his degree in Theology. After his Diaconate year in the Parish of St. Alexander and Theodor in Ottobeuren (Bayern) he was ordained priest on June 1, 2003. On April 4, 2004, he arrived at his first "mission assignment" in Berlin, as Chaplain of the Filipinos in the Archdiocese of Berlin. He is currently the Präses of the SVD Community in Berlin.

Father Adrian Kunert SJ

1967 born in Groß Strehlitz/Upper Silesia and baptized in Stubendorf/Poland
1968 childhood in Dessau/Saxony-Anhalt; 1975 First Communion; 1979 Confirmation
1983 graduation from 10th grade (Realschule) (27th POS in Dessau)
1986 skilled worker diploma in industrial electronics
1987 general qualification for university, evening classes in Dessau
1988 additional degree in Latin/Greek at Schöneiche near Berlin
1988 joined the Society of Jesus in Erfurt/Thuringia
1992 Baccalaureate (intermediate examination) in Philosophy with major in Theology
at the “Hochschule für Philosophie”, Munich
1992-1994 Interstiz (work experience) at St. Ignatius parish in Frankfurt/M
1997 Diploma in Catholic Theology at “Hochschule St. Georgen” in Frankfurt/M
1997 April 27th, ordination to the deaconry (Frankfurt) - September 20th, ordination
to the priesthood (Erfurt)
1999 until December, chaplain for student association (KSJ at Aloisiuskolleg,
Bonn - Bad Godesberg)
2000-2006 chaplain at Catholic parish Lainz-Speising in Vienna/Austria
2007 Tertianship (Jesuit training program) at Canisius College in Pymble
(Sydney)/Australia
2007 since September at Canisius-Kolleg, Berlin; teacher for Catholic Education,
campus ministry and in our youth association “Ignatian Student Association”
(now also a KSJ group)