Military bishop
A military bishop is the chief military chaplain of a Christian church with the rank of bishop. In the Catholic Church , since the Apostolic Constitution Spirituali militum curae of 1986, it has been a military ordinary who is either titular bishop or diocesan bishop , provided that the military pastoral care in the respective state is established as a military ordinariate .
Federal Republic of Germany
The Catholic bishop has exercised the office of military bishop in addition to his full-time activity as diocesan bishop, and the Protestant bishop has been full-time since 2014. Subordinate to them are the military deans , who are each responsible for one of the four military dean's offices (Berlin, Kiel, Cologne and Munich), as well as all full-time and part-time military pastors.
The Federal Police has not, as the German army, its own diocese. However, there is a Catholic and a Protestant Dean of the Federal Police .
The Holy See appoints a diocesan bishop residing in the Federal Republic of Germany as Catholic military bishop. The military bishop heads the area of jurisdiction of the Catholic military bishop for the Bundeswehr (military ordinariate) and establishes his curia at the seat of the federal government. This area of jurisdiction includes all Catholic soldiers belonging to the Bundeswehr (and their family members) during their active service. The military bishop is appointed to organize, direct and effectively shape pastoral care among them.
One of the duties of the military bishop
- advice on all questions of military pastoral care of fundamental importance,
- the enactment of church regulations and guidelines,
- the introduction of the military chaplains into their ecclesiastical office including their further education and
- the promotion of pastoral cooperation with church bodies in the civil area as well as with the military pastoral care of other bodies.
After Pope Benedict XVI. on May 8, 2010 accepted Walter Mixa's offered resignation , the vicar general of the Catholic military bishop, the apostolic protonotary Walter Wakenhut, took over the management of the Catholic military chaplaincy in accordance with the requirements of church law. On February 24, 2011, Benedict XVI appointed the Essen bishop Franz-Josef Overbeck as the new military bishop in Germany.
Catholic military bishops since the Bundeswehr was founded
| Beginning of the term of office | Term expires | Surname | More functions |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1956 | 1960 | Joseph Wendel | Archbishop of Munich and Freising |
| 1961 | 1978 | Franz Hengsbach | Bishop of Essen |
| 1978 | 1990 | Elmar Maria Kredel | Archbishop of Bamberg |
| 1990 | 2000 | Johannes Dyba | Bishop of Fulda |
| 2000 | 2010 | Walter Mixa | until 2005 Bishop of Eichstätt , 2005–2010 Bishop of Augsburg |
| 2011 | Franz-Josef Overbeck | Bishop of Essen |
Protestant military bishops since the Bundeswehr was founded
| Beginning of the term of office | Term expires | Surname | More functions |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1956 | 1972 | Hermann Art | Authorized representative of the Council of the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD) at the headquarters of the Federal Republic of Germany |
| 1972 | 1985 | Sigo Lehming | Provost of the Pinneberg parish of the North Elbian Church |
| 1985 | 1994 | Heinz-Georg Binder | Authorized representative of the EKD Council at the headquarters of the Federal Republic of Germany |
| 1994 | 2003 | Hartmut Löwe | Authorized representative of the EKD Council for the Federal Republic of Germany and the European Union |
| 2003 | 2008 | Peter jug | Bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Oldenburg |
| 2008 | 2014 | Martin Dutzmann | Authorized representative of the EKD Council for the Federal Republic of Germany and the European Union |
| 2014 | 2020 | Sigurd Rink | full-time military bishop |
Austria
The Catholic military ordinariate of the Republic of Austria has been headed by a military ordinary (coll .: military bishop) since 1986; he is usually a bishop and head of the Catholic military chaplaincy. The Protestant military pastoral care in Austria is headed by the Protestant military superintendent. In contrast to Germany, the military bishop and military superintendent in Austria exercise their office full-time.
Head of the Catholic Military Chaplaincy
| Beginning of the term of office | Term expires | Surname |
|---|---|---|
| Apostolic field vicars | ||
| 1773 | 1792 | Johann Heinrich von Kerens , SJ |
| 1792 | 1803 | Sigismund Anton von Hohenwart |
| 1803 | 1815 | Godfried Joseph Crüts van Creits |
| 1815 | 1823 | Joseph Chrysostom Pauer |
| 1827 | 1830 | Josef Alois Schachtner |
| 1831 | 1832 | Vincent Cheap |
| 1833 | 1835 | Michael Johann Wagner |
| 1835 | 1863 | Johann Michael Leonhard |
| 1863 | 1875 | Dominik Mayer |
| 1875 | 1878 | August Landt |
| 1878 | 1890 | Anton Joseph Gruscha |
| 1890 | 1911 | Koloman Belepotoczky |
| 1913 | 1918 | Emmerich Bjelik |
| Military vicars | ||
| 1920 | 1938 | Ferdinand Stanislaus Pawlikowski |
| 1959 | 1969 | Franz King |
| 1969 | 1986 | Franz Žak |
| Military ordinaries | ||
| 1986 | 1994 | Alfred Kostelecky |
| 1994 | 2015 | Christian Werner |
| 2015 | Werner Freistetter |
Evangelical military superintendents
| Beginning of the term of office | Term expires | Surname |
|---|---|---|
| 1957 | 1967 | Hellmut May |
| 1968 | 1976 | Hermann Rippel |
| 1976 | 1980 | Ernst August Hess |
| 1980 | 1998 | Julius Hanak |
| 1999 | 2000 | Alfred Stipanits |
| 2000 | 2013 | Oskar Sakrausky |
| 2013 | Karl-Reinhart Trauner |
Switzerland
In Switzerland, the job title is Chief Army Pastoral Care . The person has captaincy but is not a bishop.
France
Catholic military bishops
| Beginning of the term of office | Term expires | Surname |
|---|---|---|
| 1986 | 1989 | Jacques Fihey |
| 1989 | 2000 | Michel Dubost |
| 2000 | 2009 | Patrick Le Gal |
| 2009 | 2017 | Luc Ravel |
| 2017 | Antoine de Romanet de Beaune |
Individual evidence
- ↑ Military chaplaincy in the Bw portal
- ↑ bundeswehr.de (accessed on May 8, 2010)
- ^ Nomina dell'Ordinario Militare per la Repubblica Federale di Germania , in: Press Office of the Holy See: Daily Bulletin of February 24, 2011.
- ↑ Information on the Swiss Army website