Georg Bätzing

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Georg Bätzing (2009)
Georg Bätzing's coat of arms. The motto Congrega in unum - "Bring together" comes from the Trier pilgrimage prayer for the holy rock pilgrimage ; in this the undivided garment of Jesus ( Jn 19 : 23-24  EU ) becomes a symbol of the unity of the church.

Georg Bätzing (born April 13, 1961 in Kirchen (Sieg) ) has been Bishop of Limburg since September 18, 2016 . Since March 3, 2020 he has been chairman of the German Bishops' Conference .

Life

Georg Bätzing grew up as the son of a railway employee and a housewife in Niederfischbach ( Altenkirchen district ), a place on the so-called Trier Island , an exclave of the Trier diocese , which is surrounded by the Archdiocese of Cologne , the Archdiocese of Paderborn and the Diocese of Limburg. Bätzing, who describes his parents as “thoroughly Catholic”, was an altar boy , sang in the church choir , worked as an organist and worked in the liturgy group of his home parish.

Georg Bätzing is a cousin of the politician Sabine Bätzing-Lichtenthäler .

Pastoral activity

After graduating from high school in 1980 at Freiherr-vom-Stein-Gymnasium in Betzdorf , he entered the Episcopal Seminary in Trier . He completed his studies of theology and philosophy at the University of Trier and the University of Freiburg im Breisgau in 1985 with a diploma in Catholic theology . A year later he was ordained deacon and completed the deacon internship in St. Wendel in Saarland. On July 18, 1987 he was ordained a priest by Hermann Josef Spital in Trier and worked as a chaplain at the pilgrimage church of the Visitation of Mary in Klausen and in the parish of St. Josef in Koblenz until 1990 . He then took up the post of sub-rain in the Trier seminary, which he held until 1996. In the same year he received his doctorate in theology at the University of Trier with a dogmatic thesis on ecclesiological aspects of the thought of purification and took up the position of Regens in the seminary .

In addition to his work as Regens, he was also responsible for the planning and implementation of advanced training measures for the leaders of seminaries in German-speaking countries as well as the leader of the Eucharist, a prayer and support community for spiritual professions in the Diocese of Trier . In addition, he was Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the August Doerner Foundation, which is the sponsor of the St. Lambert Study House in Lantershofen . In November 2005 he was received by Pope Benedict XVI. Appointed Chaplain to His Holiness ( Monsignor ). From 2002 to 2012 he was the spiritual advisor of the weekly newspaper in the diocese of Trier Paulinus . On November 1, 2012, Bishop Stephan Ackermann appointed Bätzing as his vicar general ; he took over this task from Prelate Georg Holkenbrink , who had held the office since 2005 and then became the official of the diocesan court.

Bishop of Limburg

After his election by the Limburg cathedral chapter , Georg Bätzing was appointed by Pope Francis on July 1, 2016, to succeed Franz-Peter Tebartz-van Elst as the 13th  Bishop of Limburg . Episcopal ordination and inauguration took place on September 18, 2016. The main consecrator was the Archbishop of Cologne , Rainer Maria Cardinal Woelki , co- consecrators were the previous Apostolic Administrator of the Diocese of Limburg, Auxiliary Bishop Manfred Grothe , and the Trier Bishop Stephan Ackermann .

Episcopal coat of arms

The red cross on a silver background in the left field of the bishop's coat of arms of Georg Bätzing is the coat of arms of his home diocese Trier and part of the Limburg diocese coat of arms. The dragon with the sword lying on top of it in the red field next to it stands for Saint George , the patron saint of the Limburg diocese and namesake of the bishop. The silver cornucopia with silver ore in the blue lower field is taken from the coat of arms of Bätzing's home community Niederfischbach . It is supposed to symbolize the work of the people in the former mining of this place and - according to one possible interpretation - indicate the efforts in the church to awaken and keep faith in God. The lecture cross behind and the prelate's hat above the coat of arms indicate that it belongs to a cleric.

Supra-diocesan tasks

The members of the German Bishops 'Conference elected Bätzing on September 20, 2016 as chairman of the sub-commission for the interreligious dialogue of the World Church Commission of the German Bishops' Conference.

At the spring plenary meeting of the German Bishops 'Conference in Mainz, Georg Bätzing was elected chairman of the Bishops' Conference on March 3, 2020. He succeeds Cardinal Reinhard Marx , who no longer ran for election, in office.

Positions (selection)

In February 2019, Bätzing declared that the celibacy of priests should not be a duty, but rather voluntary in the future. Celibacy as a way of life remains valuable, however, because “that's how Jesus lived. As a priest, I don't just want to be a functionary and civil servant, I actually want to follow in his footsteps. ”Bätzing was critical of the fact that women in the Roman Catholic Church are excluded from ordination offices .

In mid-March 2020, Bätzing said that the coronavirus was definitely “not a punishment from God”.

On April 14, 2020, Bätzing endorsed the public blessing of same-sex couples .

Fonts

  • The Eucharist as a Sacrifice of the Church (1986)
  • Church in the making. Ecclesiological aspects of the thought of purification , Trier Theological Studies 56, Trier: Paulinus, 1996, ISBN 978-3-7902-1284-6 (dissertation)
  • Search movements (2000)
  • Helpers in God's Work (2001)
  • The Way of the Cross of Jesus Christ (2003)
  • Stay with us, Lord (2005)
  • Exploring Life (2006)
  • Little People's God (2007)
  • There Is No Greater Love (2007)
  • Asked. Aids to Understanding the Christian Faith (2008)
  • Practice praying. Guide to a Christian Prayer Practice (2009)
  • The Trier Christ prayer. Origin, interpretation and practice of an element of the bishopric's own prayer tradition (2010)
  • Jesus Christ, Savior and Redeemer. Impulses on the Path of Salvation (2011)
  • Come on, we adore him! Impulse booklet for the celebration of Eternal Prayer and for Eucharistic Adoration as we approach the Heilig-Rock-Pilgrimage 2012, ed. from the pilgrimage office under the responsibility of Georg Bätzing and Elisabeth Beiling (2011)
  • Stay in contact. Secular State and Religions (2017)

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Motto of the new Limburg bishop: 'Congrega in unum' ; The Trier Christ prayer
  2. ↑ Press release of the Diocese of Limburg from July 1, 2016: Georg Bätzing becomes Bishop of Limburg ( Memento from July 7, 2016 in the Internet Archive )
  3. ↑ SWR Aktuell: Bätzing is the new chairman of the German Bishops' Conference. Retrieved March 3, 2020 .
  4. ↑ Georg Bätzing in the ABC portrait: What you should know about the new Limburg bishop , fnp.de , September 16, 2016.
  5. ↑ Westerwald SPD woman with staying power and fearless. In: volksfreund.de. Trierischer Volksfreund, November 4, 2014, accessed on July 10, 2016 .
  6. ↑ Paulinus of November 18, 2012, Volume 138, No. 47, pp. 1–2.
  7. ^ Nomina del Vescovo di Limburg (Germania). In: Daily Bulletin. Holy See Press Office , July 1, 2016, accessed July 1, 2016 (Italian).
  8. ^ Diocese of Limburg: A good match! Georg Bätzing is the new Bishop of Limburg ( Memento from September 18, 2016 in the Internet Archive )
  9. ↑ Diocese of Limburg: Episcopal ordination and inauguration of Monsignor Dr. Georg Bätzing on September 18, 2016 (song book for the celebration in the parishes)
  10. ↑ Cross, dragon and cornucopia . Paulinus, weekly newspaper in the Diocese of Trier, September 25, 2016, p. 3.
  11. ↑ Press release from September 20, 2016, No. 175. dbk.de.
  12. ↑ domradio.de: doimradio.de: The new one comes from Limburg. Bishop Bätzing from Limburg new DBK chairman , March 3, 2020.
  13. ↑ kathisch.de : Bätzing: Celibacy valuable - but better voluntary , accessed on February 20, 2019.
  14. ↑ kathisch.de : Bishop Bätzing is the new chairman of the German Bishops' Conference , March 3, 2020.
  15. ↑ Corona: Bishop Bätzing stops Sunday duty for Catholics. www.mittelhessen.de, March 14, 2020
  16. ↑ NovenaNews: German Bishops' head: "If a gay couple lives with faithfulness, can't we say their relationship is blessed by God?" , April 14, 2020
  17. ↑ FAZ.net: Life will blossom again , April 14, 2020
predecessor Office successor
Franz-Peter Tebartz-van Elst Bishop of Limburg
since 2016 		---
Reinhard Cardinal Marx Chairman of the German Bishops' Conference
since 2020 		---
personal data
SURNAME Bätzing, Georg
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German clergyman, Bishop of Limburg
DATE OF BIRTH April 13, 1961
PLACE OF BIRTH Churches