When Herwig Gössl found out about his appointment as auxiliary bishop in Bamberg in 2014, it caused him a “great shock”. That’s how it’s handed down. It is not known whether the clergyman felt the same way again in those days when his promotion to archbishop was announced to him. After all, he is now nine years older.
Since Saturday afternoon it has been official through a statement from the Vatican: Pope Francis has made Gössl the successor to Ludwig Schick, who resigned in November 2022. And the Pope filled a second position on Saturday: Udo Bentz, 56, will become archbishop in Paderborn.
The chairman of the German Bishops’ Conference, Limburg Bishop Georg Bätzing, congratulated both of them and praised their work so far. Gössl’s appointment stands for continuity. He is someone “who wants to shape the church of the future carefully and in practical steps.” Gössl was personally involved in the Synodal Way. The chairman of the Bishops’ Conference also expressed his gratitude for his commitment to the commissions for charitable issues and for marriage and family.
Herwig Gössl, also 56 years old, has already had practice in his new role. He has been acting as acting head of the second Bavarian archdiocese (alongside Munich-Freising) for a good 13 months, and it includes almost 600,000 Catholics.
However, the Munich native is not known for major performances or for a tendency to expose himself. In recent weeks, his predecessor, Alter Archbishop Ludwig Schick, has been heard much louder and more frequently in the media than Gössl.
Immediately after graduating from high school, I went to the seminary
This could be due to his previous role as interim boss. According to canon law, he has to refrain from doing anything during the time without a bishop that would possibly force the future incumbent to make corrections. Maybe the reticence also has something to do with his nature. Gössl is seen as someone who weighs his words carefully, who tries not to offend – a reserved, spiritual person.
As a high school graduate from the Nuremberg Melanchthon High School, he has a humanistic education. Immediately after leaving school, Gössl entered the Bamberg seminary in 1986 and was ordained in 1993. After a few years in parish pastoral care, in 2007 he was entrusted with a new task in priestly training. As an auxiliary bishop, Gössl has been responsible for Caritas for nine years.
It is said appreciatively that looking out for others is important to him. And that he is not a revolutionary, “but predictable”, conservative, but “not a zealot”. During the German synodal path reform dialogue, the Bamberg auxiliary bishop sometimes sided with the opposition minority. In 2021, Gössl was one of a quartet alongside Passau Bishop Stefan Oster that wrote an alternative text on sexuality and relationships. But that voice didn’t come through.
Gössl’s clear position on church asylum
Two years later, after the conclusion of the Synodal Path, Gössl noted that many bishops’ views on the issue of homosexuality in particular had changed in the course of the discussions. He also appeared willing to discuss the question of the ordination of women to the priesthood. “We are still on the way as a synodal church. We are not finished yet,” he said in March. The power of bishops must be better controlled and contained.
The auxiliary bishop’s stance on church asylum is clear. When the criminal proceedings against the Franconian Benedictine abbess Mechthild Thürmer were dropped because of the accusation of aiding and abetting an unauthorized stay, he expressly thanked the nun for her commitment.
At the New Year’s reception almost a year ago, Gössl gave the slogan that things don’t always have to be harmonious in the church. “You can really argue, but the important thing is that you still stay together and stand up for each other.” Enduring disappointments and differences is tiring, but diversity can also be experienced as enriching.
Compared to his two predecessors, Ludwig Schick from Fulda and Karl Braun from Eichstätt, who were appointed from outside, Gössl has an undeniable advantage: he already knows the Archdiocese of Bamberg, after all, he has been at home here for a long time.
Paderborn’s new archbishop comes from Mainz
In Paderborn, the previous Auxiliary Bishop of Mainz, Udo Bentz, will succeed Hans-Josef Becker, who left in October 2022 for reasons of age. With 1.36 million members, the Archdiocese of Paderborn is the sixth largest of the 27 Catholic dioceses in Germany.
The chairman of the Bishops’ Conference, Bätzing, also highlighted Bentz’s commitment to the Synodal Path reform process in a congratulatory letter. His responsibilities in the Youth Commission and the World Church Commission of the Bishops’ Conference are just as indispensable as his chairmanship of the Near and Middle East Working Group.