Bamberg has a new archbishop. Herwig Gössl, 57, was inaugurated into office on Saturday in the Kaiserdom. Consecration was not necessary, as Gössl has been auxiliary bishop of the archdiocese since 2014. To put it bluntly, it was enough for the new shepherd to sit on the bishop’s chair, led there by the Munich Archbishop Cardinal Reinhard Marx and by Nuncio Nikola Eterović, the Pope’s envoy to Germany. Beforehand, the papal certificate of appointment was read out and the former Archbishop Ludwig Schick, 74, presented his successor with the crosier.
Almost two dozen bishops and all sorts of honored guests from other churches and religious communities, from politics, business and society, took part in the service in Bamberg Cathedral. Gössl is the 76th Bishop of Bamberg.
In his sermon, Gössl expressed confidence that the church would continue to exist in the future. “Some say today that the church is at the tipping point and mean that the ship will soon sink. But I am firmly convinced: the Lord is on board, and if we orientate ourselves towards him, then we will gain new courage, even if it is “It’s stormy all around us,” he said. The church’s treasure does not consist of church tax revenue, but “of the promise of the Lord: I am with you always, until the end of the world.”
It is not necessarily common for a bishop’s chair to be filled by a priest from the local clergy; appointments from outside are more common. The former Archbishop Schick, for example, comes from the diocese of Fulda. His current bishop and vice-president of the German Bishops’ Conference (DBK), Michael Gerber, welcomed the “topography of short distances” in the case of Gössl’s appointment. It could be a motto for Gössl’s episcopate, as he has always sought short routes to the believers.
Herwig Gössl has been an auxiliary bishop in Bamberg for ten years and he has managed the archdiocese as an administrator since Schick’s resignation on November 1, 2022. In contrast to his successor, he represented progressive attitudes; he not only demanded that women be allowed to be ordained priests, but also brought them also an end to compulsory celibacy and a term limit for bishops come into play.
Gössl, on the other hand, says that he is completely satisfied with “not being classified as progressive.” He can’t imagine the ordination of women at the moment, he says, and he also struggles with the blessing of same-sex partnerships. For him the question arises as to what the will of God is. But if the church decides to do so, then he will follow this path.
Gössl is certainly not a revolutionary, nor does he particularly like being the center of attention. He didn’t long for the office, he said in an interview with SZ a few weeks ago, but sees it as a calling “that I can’t just brush off.” He wants to be an encourager and a bridge builder. “This is not an intriguer, not a string puller,” said Cardinal Marx in his greeting on Saturday, “a man without guile, an honest man.” Gössl is not a fan of patent recipes, but rather looks for individual solutions, said Marx. He appealed to Gössl and all bishops to follow tradition, but also to be open to innovations.
Prime Minister Markus Söder took part in the service, as did Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann (center) and his wife Gerswid.
(Photo: Daniel Vogl/dpa)
Prime Minister Markus Söder (CSU) assured the new archbishop that the Bavarian state government was at his side. A week ago, Gössl took an oath of loyalty to the constitution in Munich, according to the concordat. Söder said he wanted to “make a commitment” to the churches – for the Free State, but also personally. This also includes sticking to religious instruction in schools. Recently there were discussions as to whether religious instruction in primary schools should be cut in favor of more math and German. Söder vetoed it. The country would be more heartless without the commitment of the churches, said Söder.
The Protestant regional bishop Christian Kopp, who had only been in office for four months, spoke of a brief encounter with Gössl at the passion play in Oberammergau. There wasn’t much time, “but what I noticed: the man can listen.” That is a good prerequisite for the office of archbishop.
The chairmen of the diocesan council presented a large jar of colorful gummy bears, which were intended to represent the diversity of the 600,000 Catholics in the archdiocese, and Bamberg’s mayor immediately noted that he and the district administrator also appreciated gummy bears. The new archbishop should keep this in mind at the three men’s regular six-eye meetings.
But he also had a quote from the composer Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy, who once raved about Franconia (“Franconia is a divine country”) and wrote: “I am so sedate at this moment that I think the Archbishop of Bamberg is too be.” This is how he must feel comfortable, the new shepherd.
However, he only gave a little insight into his inner life and thanked everyone – even those who had forgone a greeting “so that this official celebration can come to an end.”