Georg Sporschill

Georg Sporschill SJ (born 26 July 1946 in Feldkirch, Vorarlberg, Vorarlberg, Austria) is an Austrian Society of Jesus priest who focuses on pastoral social work.
==Life==
Georg Sporschill was born in Feldkirch, in the Austrian province of Vorarlberg, the fifth of nine children. After graduating from the Gymnasium in Feldkirch, Georg Sporschill studied theology, education and psychology in Innsbruck and Paris. Subsequently he served as consultant for adult education at the Office of the Regional Government of Vorarlberg. In 1976, aged 30, he entered the Jesuit Order and was ordained to the priesthood in Vienna two years later.
His focus then shifted from adult education to youth and social work. As a young chaplain in the parish Vienna-Lainz he founded and guided several youth groups. During this period, he also headed the editorial office of the periodical Entschluss (“Resolve”). From 1980, he focused on work with young drug users, homeless youth and young offenders, and he shared their accommodations. For the Caritas organisation, Sporschill established the „Caritas-Jugendhaus JUCA“ in Vienna which provides homeless shelters, including homes for young people, he initiated the “Canisibus”, which serves soup at Vienna’s railway stations for people living on the streets, and founded the restaurant “Inigo” in the fashionable Vienna city centre, which employs long-term unemployed people and thereby helps strengthen their sense of self-esteem. A mandate of the Society of Jesus sent Georg Sporschill to Bucharest with a mission to help Romanian street children.
For this purpose 1991 he founded the association „Concordia“. Beginning as a small initiative the welfare programs sprouted within 20 years also in the Republic of Moldova and in Bulgaria, offering thousands of children a new perspective from the streets and canals of the Romanian capital. A social center, children's and youth centers as well as training workshops and vocational schools were built for them.
“We go where the need is greatest.” This motto of Saint Ignatius of Loyola took Sporschill to Romani families in six Transylvanian villages near Sibiu in Romania. Here he focuses now on the Elijah social programme, which he established 2012 together with Ruth Zenkert. They improve poor living conditions and reintegrate Romani families into Romanian society. Together they build settlements, run training workshops for young people, provide medical care in remote villages, provide social centres for children and run a music school. 
Georg Sporschill also founded a Bible school, which issues the weekly Bimail, words of the Bible for our times.
==Awards==
*1991: Silbernes Ehrenzeichen für Verdienste um das Land Wien
*1993: Bruno Kreisky Preis für Verdienste um die Menschenrechte
*1994: Kardinal-König-Preis
*1994: Toni-Russ-Preis
*1998: Hans-Czermak-Sonderpreis der Dr.-Karl-Renner-Stiftung
*1999: Goldenes Ehrenzeichen für Verdienste um die Republik Österreich
*1999: Kiwanis Ehrenpreis
*2002: United Nations Vienna Civil Society Award
*2002: Montfortorden des Landes Vorarlberg
*2002: Ordinul National Serviciul Credincios der Republik Rumänien
*2004: Österreicher des Jahres in der Sparte Humanität, das Preisgeld wurde unter Georg Sporschill und vier weiteren Nominierten aufgeteilt
*2004: Albert-Schweitzer-Preis
*2005: Felix-Ermacora-Menschenrechtspreis
*2005: Ehrendoktorat der Theologie der Universität InnsbruckJózef Niewiadomski: Pater Georg Sporschill SJ - Ehrendoktor unserer Universität. Universität Innsbruck, 30. Mai 2005
*2006: Großes Ehrenzeichen für Verdienste um die Republik Österreich
*2007: Ordinul de Onoare of the Republic of Moldova
*2008: Essl Social Prize
*2013: Europäische Friedensrose Waldhausen
*2014: Viktor-Frankl-Preis der Stadt Wien
*2014: Preis der Völkerverständigung
*2019: Ehrendoktorat der Universität UdineItalien: Ehrendoktorat für Pater Sporschill (9. August 2019)
== Works (Selection) ==
* Die zweite Meile. Ein Leben mit Hoffnungskindern, Wien 2006, ISBN 3-8000-7211-4 und ISBN 978-3-8000-7211-8.
* Jerusalemer Nachtgespräche. Über das Risiko des Glaubens, together with Carlo Maria Martini, Freiburg im Breisgau, Herder 2008, ISBN 978-3-451-05979-7.
* Mit Feuer vom Himmel: Neue Geschichten von Elijah und seinen Raben, together with Ruth Zenkert, Wien 2019, ISBN 978-3-99050-170-2
Category:1946 births
Category:Austrian Jesuits
Category:People from Feldkirch, Vorarlberg