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Michael Schmalzl, fms

Participant (Delegate)
Germany - West Central Europe

Brother Michael Schmalzl was born on November 15th in 1967 in Roding, Bavaria, Germany. He completed his schooling in 1985 at the Marist Secondary School in Cham. After training as a specialist teacher, he joined the Brother’s community in Mindelheim as an aspirant and later as a postulant. In 1991, he completed his training as a teacher at the Marist College in Mindelheim and then did his Novitiate in Dublin. In 1993, he was sent back to Mindelheim being professed and to teach at the Marist College. At the same time, he took a correspondence course in theology so that he could also teach religious education. In 1999, he took his perpetual vows. After the German Province was restructured into the new Central-Western European Province in 2000, Michael was transferred to the newly founded international community in the East German city of Dessau in 2002. There he worked in a very strong diaspora situation as a chaplain in a youth prison, in youth ministry of the parish and in an ecumenical Bible project with the local Protestant regional church. In 2010, he was transferred back to Mindelheim to become director of the boarding school there until its closure in 2015. From 2010 onwards, more and more cases of sexual abuse at the Marist boarding school in Mindelheim became public knowledge. As the provincial's representative for the brothers in Germany, he dealt with the investigation of these incidents from 2013 onwards. From 2010 to 2023, he was also a member of the provincial council without interruption. Since 2013, he has been building up the Cmi-Germany volunteer service, which both sends out and receives young adults. Since the founding of the Central-West Europe District, he has also been a member of the District Council.