Fr. Bargil Pixner, O.S.B.

Fr. Bargil Pixner, O.S.B., was born into a German-speaking family in northern Italy in 1921. After becoming a missionary priest in 1946, he served lepers in the Philippines for eight years. After several years of giving spiritual direction to priests in the United States and Europe, Father Pixner moved to Israel, where he studied Hebrew and biblical archeology and geography. In 1973 he joined the Benedictines at Dormition Abbey on Mount Zion, where he pursued Jewish-Christian studies. These he continued near the Sea of Galilee at the Benedictine Monastery of Tabgha, which he helped to found.