) is the Minister General, that is, the worldwide head, of the Order of Friars Minor Capuchin

Order of Friars Minor Capuchin

The Order of Friars Minor Capuchin is an Order of friars in the Catholic Church, among the chief offshoots of the Franciscans. The worldwide head of the Order, called the Minister General, is currently Father Mauro Jöhri.-Origins :...

, having served since 2006. He is also a Professor of Theology.

Father Jöhri is fluent in German, Romansh, French and Italian, i.e. in all the four languages of Switzerland. He joined his order in 1964 as a novice, and studied theology at the order's seminary in Solothurn

Solothurn

The city of Solothurn is the capital of the Canton of Solothurn in Switzerland. The city also comprises the only municipality of the district of the same name.-Pre-roman settlement:...

. He was ordained a priest in 1972, and continued his studies in Fribourg

Fribourg

Fribourg is the capital of the Swiss canton of Fribourg and the district of Sarine. It is located on both sides of the river Saane/Sarine, on the Swiss plateau, and is an important economic, administrative and educational center on the cultural border between German and French Switzerland...

, Tübingen

Tübingen

Tübingen is a traditional university town in central Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated south of the state capital, Stuttgart, on a ridge between the Neckar and Ammer rivers.-Geography:...

 and Lucerne

Lucerne

Lucerne is a city in north-central Switzerland, in the German-speaking portion of that country. Lucerne is the capital of the Canton of Lucerne and the capital of the district of the same name. With a population of about 76,200 people, Lucerne is the most populous city in Central Switzerland, and...

, where he earned a doctorate with a dissertation on the work of Hans Urs von Balthasar

Hans Urs von Balthasar

Hans Urs von Balthasar was a Swiss theologian and priest who was nominated to be a cardinal of the Catholic Church...

.

In the following years, he lived in the monastery of Madonna del Sasso

Madonna del Sasso, Switzerland

The Madonna del Sasso is a sanctuary in Orselina above the city of Locarno in Switzerland. It is the principal sight and goal of pilgrimage in the city....

 in Locarno

Locarno

Locarno is the capital of the Locarno district, located on the northern tip of Lake Maggiore in the Swiss canton of Ticino, close to Ascona at the foot of the Alps. It has a population of about 15,000...

, where he was active as a teacher. Subsequently, he taught dogmatic theology

Dogmatic theology

Dogmatic theology is that part of theology dealing with the theoretical truths of faith concerning God and his works, especially the official theology recognized by an organized Church body, such as the Roman Catholic Church, Dutch Reformed Church, etc...

 and fundamental theology at the theological seminary in Chur

Chur

Chur or Coire is the capital of the Swiss canton of Graubünden and lies in the northern part of the canton.-History:The name "chur" derives perhaps from the Celtic kora or koria, meaning "tribe", or from the Latin curia....

, and served as a Professor of Theology at the University of Lugano.

He became the minister provincial

Provincial superior

A Provincial Superior is a major superior of a religious order acting under the order's Superior General and exercising a general supervision over all the members of that order in a territorial division of the order called a province--similar to but not to be confused with an ecclesiastical...

 of the Swiss branch of his order in 1995. He also undertook studies at the Institut de formation humaine intégrale in Montreal

Montreal

Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...

, before returning to his post as provincial superior, eventually being elected as minister general in 2006.

Publications

• Descensus Dei: teologia della croce nell'opera di Hans Urs von Balthasar. Roma: Libr. Ed. della Pontificia Univ. Lateranense 1981 (dissertation, Lucerne, 1980)
• Hans Urs von Balthasar (1905-1988): eine katholische "dialektische Theologie". In: Stephan Leimgruber und Max Schoch (ed.): Gegen die Gottvergessenheit: Schweizer Theologen im 19. und 20. Jahrhundert. Basel: Herder 1990, Pp. 420-439