Friedhelm Hofmann

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Bishop Hofmann in autumn 2009
Friedhelm Hofmann's coat of arms

Friedhelm Hofmann (born May 12, 1942 in Cologne - Lindenthal ) is a German Roman Catholic clergyman , art historian and bishop emeritus of Würzburg .

Life

Hofmann, the third of four brothers, attended the primary school in Cologne-Vogelsang and from 1955 the Archbishop's Collegium Marianum in Neuss . After graduating from the Quirinus Gymnasium there , Hofmann studied Catholic theology at the Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn and the University of Cologne from 1963 .

He received the sacrament of ordination to the priesthood on February 3, 1969 in Cologne by Joseph Höffner , then coadjutor archbishop in Cologne. He then worked as a chaplain at St. Peter in Cologne-Ehrenfeld . In 1972 he was appointed as cathedral vicar and cathedral vicar at Cologne Cathedral . At the same time he studied art history and philosophy ; In 1979 he was with a history of art work on contemporary representations of the apocalypse motifs in church since 1945 in Bonn to Dr. phil. PhD . Since 1978 he has also been chairman of the German Lourdes Association. In 1980 he was elected a member of the Cologne cathedral chapter and was at the same time cathedral pastor. On October 18, 1983, he was accepted into the Order of Malta as an Honorary Conventual Chaplain . Pope John Paul II awarded him the honorary title of Chaplain of His Holiness ( Monsignor ) on March 17, 1984 . In 1981 he was appointed artist chaplain for the Archdiocese of Cologne .

Friedhelm Hofmann is a member of the Association of Catholic Theologians (VKTh) Burgundia Bonn and an honorary member of the Catholic student associations KDStV Ascania Bonn in the CV and KDStV Burgundia (Leipzig) Düsseldorf in the CV . Since Whitsun 2014 he has also been an honorary member of the KDStV Markomannia Würzburg and since June 2015 an honorary member of the KStV Walhalla Würzburg. In 2015 he was accepted into the Brotherhood of Santa Maria dell'Anima ("Anima Brotherhood") in Rome.

Auxiliary Bishop in Cologne and Bishop in Würzburg

In 1992 Friedhelm Hofmann was named titular bishop of Taddua by John Paul II and appointed auxiliary bishop in the Archdiocese of Cologne. On September 13, 1992 he received the episcopal ordination from the Archbishop of Cologne, Joachim Cardinal Meisner ; Co-consecrators were the two auxiliary bishops from Cologne, Josef Plöger and Walter Jansen . As episcopal vicar , he was assigned the pastoral district north and the area of permanent diaconate .

On June 25, 2004, John Paul II appointed him 88th Bishop of Würzburg . Hofmann was the official successor to Paul-Werner Scheele , who had resigned in 2003; since then, Auxiliary Bishop Helmut Bauer was elected diocesan administrator for the period of the Sedis vacancy . Hofmann's inauguration took place on September 19, 2004 in Kiliansdom in Würzburg .

With his inauguration in Würzburg Hofmann resigned from the Cologne Cathedral Chapter and the clergy of the Archdiocese of Cologne. Cardinal Meisner appointed him on September 5, 2004, Cologne Cathedral of Honor .

During his activity as Bishop of Würzburg, as an art historian, he also dealt with the relationship between art and faith.

On September 18, 2017, Pope Francis accepted the resignation submitted by Bishop Hofmann for reasons of age.

Supra-diocesan tasks

Bishop Hofmann is chairman of the liturgy commission and deputy chairman of the commission for science and culture of the German Bishops' Conference . As chairman of the Sub-Commission "Common of prayer and song book" of the liturgy commission of the German Bishops Conference, he was since 2002 largely responsible for creating the new version of the book of prayer and singing the praise of God , which was introduced from December 1, 2013.

Episcopal coat of arms

The Gero cross shows the bond with the cathedral church in Cologne, where he was consecrated bishop in 1992. Fields 1 and 4, three silver tips on a red background - the Franconian rake - stand for the diocese of Würzburg. Fields 2 and 3, the golden halo on a blue background, refer to the burning bush, but also to the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

His motto Crux spes unica ("The cross - only hope"), which he had already chosen as auxiliary bishop, was the central statement of the holy Edith Stein, whom he greatly admired .

Dealing with sexual assault within the church

Hofmann's reaction to a case of sexual abuse was viewed critically, as a result of which, according to the victim, he allegedly tried to prevent the sexual assault by a priest on an underage acolyte from being made public. Nevertheless, he immediately initiated a canonical procedure. According to the responsible public prosecutor's office, Hofmann was not obliged to file criminal charges. The proceedings were discontinued in November 2006 - after the alleged perpetrator had committed suicide.

See also

literature

  • Klaus Wittstadt: Church and State in the 20th Century. In: Ulrich Wagner (Hrsg.): History of the city of Würzburg. 4 volumes, Volume I – III / 2, Theiss, Stuttgart 2001–2007; III / 1–2: From the transition to Bavaria to the 21st century. 2007, ISBN 978-3-8062-1478-9 , pp. 453–478 and 1304 f., Here: pp. 475–478: The development at the end of the 20th century - the term of office of Bishop Paul-Werner Scheele (1979– 2003). P. 477.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ CV of Dr. Friedhelm Hofmann, 88th Bishop of Würzburg. Diocese of Würzburg , archived from the original on December 8, 2015 ; accessed on November 27, 2015 .
  2. ↑ Annuario Pontificio per l'anno 1987 , Città del Vaticano 1987, p. 1893.
  3. ^ Friedhelm Hofmann: Art and Faith. (Presentation from February 16, 2017) In: Medical-historical messages. Journal for the history of science and specialist prose research. Volume 35, 2016 (2018), pp. 183-188.
  4. ^ Rinuncia del Vescovo di Würzburg (Germania) , Press Office of the Holy See , Daily Bulletin of September 17, 2017
  5. ↑ TV show Panorama : Sexual Abuse - How bishops try to cover up the deeds of priests ( Memento of September 30, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
predecessor Office successor
Paul-Werner Scheele Bishop of Würzburg
2004–2017 		Franz Jung
personal data
SURNAME Hofmann, Friedhelm
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German clergyman, bishop emeritus of Würzburg
DATE OF BIRTH May 12, 1942
PLACE OF BIRTH Cologne