Unity through Repentance: The Journey to Wittenberg 2017
Chapter 20
Death of a Father
You’ve read Chapter 20 and you’re hungry for more of Fr. Peter? We don’t blame you!
Photos, 2008 - 2012
2014 - 2016
A quick video of a Shabbat song in the Hainburg House, home base of Fr. Peter Hocken's ministry. This was taken during a meeting of Achana, a group of intercessors who gather once a year at the Hainburg House. My family is shown when the pan reaches all the way right, and Fr. Peter is on the other side at the head of the table on the left, shown at the end. Filmed in Hainburg, Austria in May of 2014.
Fr. Peter had a special chair he always sat in, in Hainburg
The Thunderclap from Heaven
You can see my father in the picture above from the 2016 meeting, in the front row just to the right of the center aisle. My mother is next to him. Here is part of what my dad wrote for his memory of the Wittenberg meetings, which is quoted in the book:
I heard ... Fr. Peter Hocken’s comment that was followed by loud thunder from the thunderstorm in progress at the time. Hocken got an impish grin on his face and said that the thunder showed God’s approval of his words.
Julia Torres, who was working closely with Pope Francis on plans for the 50th Jubilee of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal, invites everyone from Wittenberg 2017 to attend as her and Pope Francis' special guests.
Julia Torres with Edi Griesfelder, an Austrian Pentecostal leader - specifically inviting him, a Protestant, to come to the Catholic Jubilee in 2017.
A special dinner in the 2016 meeting, with (left to right) Richard Harvey, Fr. Peter Hocken, Stefana Restivo, and Julia Torres. Maybe they were talking about how they would all see each other again the next year, at the Golden Jubilee in Rome.
The Rome Jubilee
From Chapter 20 of Unity Through Repentance:
The week before he died, Father Peter was in good health, visiting Rome again. He had come with tens of thousands of others in May 2017 to celebrate the golden jubilee of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal. He had come to teach.
The picture at right shows Fr. Peter with Richard Harvey at the Jubilee gathering.
From Chapter 20: “On June 3, Father Peter sat with Pope Francis on the main stage for the Vigil of Pentecost. George and Hanna Miley, Hans-Peter and Verena Lang, and Ryan Thurman were also on the stage as representatives of Wittenberg 2017. The Circus Maximus was filled with tens of thousands of Spirit-filled believers from around the world.”
The large video screen captures the typical secret smile of Father Peter (far left), showing the joy that he felt at the Rome Jubilee as Fr. Raniero Cantalamessa addresses the gathering.
Fr. Peter died on June 10, 2017
From Chapter 20:
News of his death spread quickly around the world. People from many nations, denominations, and all ranks of life flocked to Hainburg for his funeral. I am sure local residents were shocked that day to find streets blocked by a colorful crowd of young people singing, Jews praying the Kaddish, and vested clergy processing with the coffin of the odd old priest who lived among them. They must have wondered—“Who was this man?”