On Friday evening in Schönhofen near Regensburg the bishop emeritus of Bethlehem (South Africa) was well prepared at the age of 90 and passed away strengthened by the holy sacraments.Bucher was born in Regensburg in 1931 and grew up in the parish of St Bucher worked as a chaplain in Teublitz for a year until Archbishop Michael Buchberger gave him leave to serve as a missionary in South Africa.After studying missionary studies in Rome and Oxford he first worked in the South African diocese of Aliwal North before he was the national chaplain of the Chiro youth movement from 1972–1975 In 1972 he also received his doctorate in missiology with a thesis on “Youth Work in South Africa: A Challenge for the Church”.In 1976 Pope Paul VI appointed him as bishop of the South African diocese of Bethlehem As a bishop he repeatedly campaigned against apartheid and worked together with the mission bishops Oswald Hirmer and Fritz Lobinger who also came from the Diocese of Regensburg in the development of Bible sharing at the pastoral institute of the South African Bishops’ Conference (“Lumko-Institute”).In 2008 Pope Benedict XVI accepted his resignation.After a few years in the retirement home for clergy in Mariannhill near Durban Bucher finally moved to his home diocese in Schönhofen near Regensburg in 2017 and spent his last years at the side of his sister who accompanied him to the end.The diocese of Regensburg mourns the loss of the bishop Hubert Bucher and recommends him to the prayers of the faithful.The requiem with subsequent burial in Regensburg Cathedral is on Friday Original report from Regensburg Diocese Website The SACBC conveys prayerful wishes of condolences to Bishop Hubert Bucher’s sister and the whole family the Diocese of Regensburg and the Diocese of Bethlehem And may the soul of his Lordship Bishop Bucher The mission of the Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conference (SACBC) is to encounter the mercy of Christ and to accompany His people with joy ©2024 Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conference A truck breaks through the central crash barrier on the A93 near Maxhütte-Haidhof in Germany and crashes head-on into oncoming traffic - two people die and several are seriously injured Two people were killed in a tragic traffic accident on the A93 highway in the Schwandorf district on Monday morning According to the information available so far a lorry broke through the central crash barrier in the direction of Hof at around 7.10 a.m for reasons as yet unexplained and crashed into several vehicles in the oncoming lane The accident occurred between the Ponholz and Teublitz junctions near Maxhütte-Haidhof another truck and several cars were involved in the collision in addition to the truck that caused the accident A 49-year-old woman from the Czech Republic and a 26-year-old man from the district of Altötting died in the accident Several other people were seriously injured; exact information on the number and condition of the injured was not initially available The cause of the accident is still unclear It is currently being investigated whether there were technical problems fire department and rescue services are deployed in large numbers A crisis intervention team is assisting eyewitnesses and those involved at the scene.