I thought I would begin by talking about me since you probably want to know a little about me. I grew up in Europe where I was part of a traveling circus. I started out as an "interesting attraction" (though I'm sure there are more colourful words for it), but I quickly saw that I could use the skills I had to become more than just a curiousity. I can't remember when I started performing, but I worked as a trapeze aerialist and acrobat for the rest of my circus career. (Even though this poster would have you believe I was some sort of clown.) The circus tradition is slightly different in Europe than it is in America. The center of the American circus was the traveling sideshow, whereas in Europe it was the acts underneath the tent or "Le Chapiteau" - as it is known whether you are in France or not. Both places have clowns, but they served different purposes. 
I left Europe when I was still in my teens to join a different kind of circus - Cirque du Soleil in Montreal, Canada and I performed with them until I was 20 when I was invited to be in a movie called "Dying is Forever". Making the movie was incredibly fun. I loved working with the actors and the stunt people. I couldn't speak English very well at the time and I had the most patient dialogue coach in Los Angeles who taught me all my lines phonetically. If that's all there was to the movie business, I think I might still be making them. Fortunately for me, there were a lot of things that I didn't like and I re-newed my committment to serving Our Lord rather than make any more of them. I did receive one accolade as a film actor: a recognition of "outstanding stuntwork from a first time actor" from the Screen Actor's Guild. (Not an award or anything, just a "recognition". Perhaps they felt bad about the way my lines came out despite the months of coaching and figured I deserved something...) That's where the picture was taken - on the red carpet. I'm afraid it might scare the children too, but it was one of the few I could find were I was smiling.
The best part of my life has been spent in service to the Catholic Church and though I went to seminary in Germany, I did all my advanced theological education in Rome and have lived there for the last 12 years. There are so many beautiful things in Rome that I saw everyday, but I have decided to include this picture of our library at the Vatican because I spent so much time here. I did a lot of writing for the Vatican including some of their press releases and whenever you see pictures of large meetings there, where the Cardinals are all wearing headphones for translations, I was often one of the translators. It was a very busy place to work and there was always a lot going on. Rome is a really amazing city to live and work in. It always felt like I was in the center of everything.I lived just outside of Vatican City in the Presbytery of a small German church called Church of St. Michael the Archangel. (St. Michael is one of Germany's many patron saints.) We were on the news quite a bit last year when our Presbytery was accidently demolished. It is being rebuilt now and the priests are scheduled to move back in at the end of the fall, in time to celebrate Advent which I think is so appropriate since it is a time of new beginnings.
So that's a little about me. I'm looking forward to writing more once I have some stories to tell about living here and being a part of your parish.
- Fr. Kurt
Wilkommen.