Dieter Geerlings

Coat of arms of the auxiliary bishop Dieter Geerlings

Dieter Geerlings (born July 15, 1947 in Emmerich ) is a German clergyman and emeritus Roman Catholic auxiliary bishop in Münster .

Life

After studying Catholic theology and philosophy at the Westphalian Wilhelms University in Münster Geerlings received on 20 May 1973 at the Great Cathedral in Munster the priesthood by Bishop Heinrich Tenhumberg . From 1973 to 1977 he was chaplain at the St. George Church in Bocholt and until 1979 in the parish of St. Willibrord in Kleve - Kellen . In 1979 he became clergyman and diocesan president of the Catholic Young Congregation (KJG) in the diocese of Münster and subsidiary in Münster, St. Konrad . In 1980 he became vicar at the parish church of St. Martinus in Herten-Westerholt . In 1984 he was appointed regional vicar for the Lower Rhine region and rector of the chapel of the St. Norbert House in Xanten .

In 1988, Bishop Reinhard Lettmann appointed him chairman of the Caritas Association for the diocese of Münster as well as cathedral vicar at Münster Cathedral and a member of the clergy . He also worked as a pastor for the Malteser Relief Service and clergyman advisor for the social service of Catholic men and women . Since 1989 he has been a clerical adviser in the diocesan association of the Caritas Conference and in the diocesan association of the Vincent Conferences . In 1995 he was appointed resident cathedral chapter of the Münster cathedral chapter by Reinhard Lettmann . In 2001 he took over the chairmanship of the Catholic Hospital Association Germany (KKVD) as the successor to Auxiliary Bishop Josef Voss .

On May 31, 2010 Pope Benedict XVI appointed him . as titular bishop of Tacapae and auxiliary bishop in Münster. The episcopal ordination received his Bishop Felix Genn on 29 August the same year in the cathedral at Munster; Co- consecrators were the bishop emeritus of Münster, Reinhard Lettmann, and the auxiliary bishop emeritus in Münster, Heinrich Janssen . Dieter Geerlings was the regional bishop responsible for the Coesfeld - Recklinghausen region. Here, too, he was the successor of the late Auxiliary Bishop Josef Voss, whose shepherd's staff he took over. It is the same shepherd's staff that the former auxiliary bishop Heinrich Baaken wore when he was Geerlings in 1956.

In the German Bishops' Conference he was a member of the Caritas Commission and the Migration Commission .

Pope Francis accepted his early resignation on November 24, 2017. Geerlings had submitted this in September 2017 due to health restrictions after a serious illness in 2015.

In August 2019, Geerlings, in agreement with the diocese of Münster, submitted a paper on the reform of Catholic sexual ethics on the Synodal Path of the German Bishops' Conference. He advocated the blessing of same-sex couples .

Web links

• Overview: Auxiliary Bishop Dieter Geerling's Church + Life Network
• Entry on Dieter Geerlings on catholic-hierarchy.org

Individual evidence

1. ^ Words of thanks from D. Geerlings ( Memento from November 26, 2018 in the Internet Archive )
2. ^ Members, chairmen and deputy chairmen of the episcopal commissions and sub-commissions. Press release No. 175. In: dbk.de. Association of the Dioceses of Germany, September 20, 2016, accessed on August 16, 2019 . 
3. ^ Rinuncia di Ausiliare di Münster (Germania). In: Daily Bulletin. Holy See Press Office , November 24, 2017, accessed November 24, 2017 (Italian). 
4. ↑ Pope accepts Auxiliary Bishop Geerlings' resignation. Diocese of Münster, November 24, 2017, accessed on November 24, 2017 . 
5. ↑ Karin Weglage: Auxiliary Bishop Geerlings: Church can bless homosexual couples. In: Church + Life Network. August 16, 2019, accessed August 16, 2019 .