04.05.2026

Memorial Service for Prelate Paul Knopp

The Pontifical Institute and the parish of Santa Maria dell’Anima invite you in mourning to a memorial Mass for the long-serving curate, pastor, and religious education teacher at the German School Rome,

Prelate Paul Knopp, on Friday, May 22 at 6:00 p.m.,
thirty days after his passing and one day after his birthday, at the Anima.

Dr. Michael Max
Rector of the Anima

22.04.2026

The parish community and the college of Santa Maria dell’Anima
mourn the passing of their long-serving pastor and curate,
Prelate Dr. Paul Knopp,
who passed away in Cologne at the age of 88.

Shortly after his ordination as a priest by Julius Cardinal Döpfner, which he celebrated as a graduate of the Germanicum in Rome, Paul Knopp returned in 1968 at the age of thirty to the city on the Tiber. There he served until the year 2000 as a pastor and curate at the Anima, as well as a teacher of religion at the German School in Rome.
In the spirit of the Second Vatican Council, Prelate Knopp built up at the Anima a community that, for generations of German-speaking Catholics, became a piece of home and a cultural anchor within the universal Church, as well as a place of lived faith and joyful fellowship in being part of the Church.
His long period of service, spanning two Holy Years – 1975 and 2000 – is still remembered by many as the time in which they grew up at the Anima with “Knoppi,” as he was affectionately called, and were able to celebrate the milestones of life, from baptism to funeral, with him at their side.

On behalf of all of them, and also personally, I would like to sincerely thank Paul Knopp for his service to the Anima. May what he, as a good shepherd, was able to sow in the souls of so many as traces of faith, hope, and love bear rich fruit.
And may the patroness of souls, Santa Maria dell’Anima, now lead him to the destination of all pilgrimages, to eternal life in our Lord Jesus Christ, who has risen victorious from the dead.

Dr. Michael Max
Rector of the Anima

The exact date and time of the memorial Mass, which we will celebrate for Prelate Paul Knopp at the Anima, will be announced in due course.