Certificate from Father Rafael Maria Böhm, LC
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Certificate from Father Rafael Maria Böhm, LC
I grew up in the beautiful Allgäu, in Marktoberdorf. Besides school, there were three other things that significantly shaped my childhood: music, nature, and work. I learned to play the piano at an early age, later I switched to the tenor horn and trombone, and now I also enjoy strumming a guitar. I attended the arts-focused high school in Marktoberdorf and participated in various choirs and orchestras in my free time. Additionally, I enjoyed wandering through the surrounding forests or undertaking long mountain hikes in the Allgäu Alps.
My father often took me with him to his work as a gardener. Digging in the soil outdoors was a lot of fun for me. My father never missed an opportunity to teach me something. Practical work in the house and garden suited me, and I developed some skills in this area that have been very useful to me time and again. Liturgical service fascinated me; I often played the role of the priest, and after my First Communion, I became one of the most diligent altar servers. “Mei d‘ Rafi, des werd amol a Pfarra!”, a friend of mine used to say, and I laughed about it back then.
In the summer of 2004, I first met the Legionaries of Christ during a summer camp in the Allgäu. There were young priests with whom you could laugh, who played soccer, and who had a very special way of talking about Christ. During the Easter holidays of 2005, I participated in a camp at the Apostolic School in France. After just a few days, it was clear to me: I want to go there!
In the summer of 2005, I was allowed to attend the boarding school of the Apostolic School in France. That year laid many foundations in my life, leading to a genuine relationship with God. Although it was not easy—I initially didn’t speak a word of French—I was primarily one thing: very happy. There, besides me, three other Germans were also classmates.
I was at the Apostolic School not primarily because I wanted to become a priest, but because I was happy there. Nevertheless, the horizon was already slowly revealing the possibility of entering the novitiate, and with it the thought that not only I have to shape my life, but that God might also be asking me for something.
As it became clear in 2008 that 15 German boys wanted to join the Apostolic School, the authorities considered founding a completely new school in Germany. This also raised a very concrete question for me: Should I be part of the new foundation, and what is God’s plan for my life?
In September 2008, I was able to co-found the first Apostolic School in Germany in Bad Münstereifel. I can only be grateful and happy for the four years at the Apostolic School in Bad Münstereifel. They made me realize that I was in the right place at the right time and truly aligned with God’s will for my life. During this time, I also developed the inner conviction that I am called to the priesthood. With the certainty that God holds me firmly in His hand as I take my next steps, the step into the novitiate was a seamless transition.
At the end of the two-year novitiate, in September 2014, I took my first vows in Altötting. This was followed by a year of classical humanistic studies in Monterrey, Mexico. That year remains vivid in my memory with many good experiences. The culture, the landscape, the people there—all so different and new to me—opened many horizons. I believe that this year in Mexico significantly shaped my worldview. “Living” is indeed different from what we think in Germany…
In the fall of 2015, I then began my three-year bachelor’s degree in Philosophy at our order’s own university, the Athenäum Regina Apostolorum, in Rome, and a few years later, also the bachelor’s in Theology. There, I was able to experience the “Universal Church” in a completely new way. I had classmates from all continents of the Earth, from India to Sudan to Nigeria, from Brazil to Colombia to Canada, and I was able to forge many friendships. Above all, the awareness that the Church around the world is a Church that suffers greatly touched me deeply.
With the perpetual profession in 2022 and the diaconate ordination in 2023, I have finally committed my life to the service of this Church. The priestly ordination marks the end of a long path of formation—12 years since the beginning of the novitiate! And yet, I am aware that my inner journey of heart transformation is still at the beginning, and that God wants to lead me increasingly closer to Him along paths unknown to me.