After the resignation of Archbishop Ludwig Schick, Bamberg’s Catholics found themselves without leadership at the head of their diocese. It is still unclear when a successor will be announced. But it is now clear who will lead the archdiocese until then.
Bamberg (dpa / lby) – It is still completely open when the Catholic Church will present a successor to the resigned Bamberg Archbishop Ludwig Schick. Until then, Auxiliary Bishop Herwig Gössl will lead the archdiocese. The cathedral chapter elected the 55-year-old diocesan administrator, as a spokesman announced on Wednesday. He is represented by the previous Vicar General Georg Kestel.
As had become known the day before, the previous long-standing Archbishop of Bamberg, Ludwig Schick, had submitted a resignation to the Vatican – Pope Francis has now accepted it. After two decades at the head of the Archdiocese, the 73-year-old justified the step by saying that he would like to leave upcoming important decisions and setting the course to a younger successor.
On Wednesday morning, Schick celebrated a service in Bamberg Cathedral on All Souls’ Day – for the first time as an archbishop off duty. “I have to get used to it, you too, but we in Franconia say: That’ll be fine,” said Schick to the believers.
According to canon law expert Thomas Schüller, Schick’s successor needs good nerves. “Certainly one will look for someone who has the gift of bringing people together in view of the violent polarization in the German church, a moderate and experienced man with good nerves,” he told the German Press Agency. “Unfortunately, the pool of suitable candidates is very limited due to the blatant shortage of priests.”
Who it will be is “difficult to say,” said Schüller – “because according to the Bavarian Concordat, the pope cannot freely appoint a new archbishop, but must appoint a new archbishop from the list of those proposed.” Everything depends on the proposals of the Bamberg cathedral chapter, the incumbent Bavarian bishops and the chairman of the German Bishops’ Conference, Georg Bätzing, who has the right to propose in this function”.
When a new archbishop for the approximately 630,000 Catholics will be determined is still completely open. The Bavarian Concordat, the state church agreement between the Holy See and the Free State of 1924, states: “The Holy See has complete freedom in the appointment of archbishops and bishops.” But Francis gets decision support: the Bamberg cathedral chapter and the bishops’ conference send the names of suitable candidates to Rome.
The State Committee of Catholics in Bavaria paid tribute to the resigned Archbishop of Bamberg: The head of the lay committee, Joachim Unterländer, described Schick as a bishop who is not closed to change and wants to bring his church forward and make it fit for the future. Schick’s suggestions for women’s consecration, the lifting of compulsory celibacy or the term limit for bishops bear witness to this, Unterländer said, according to a statement on Wednesday.
The reform organization “We are Church” announced that Schick had presented a program for the future of the church in recent years: “Rooted in the faith and an open ear for the people. It is not the institution of the church that is important, but the people Church, the church leadership is there for them.”
Bayreuth’s Protestant regional bishop, Dorothea Greiner, said she regretted Schick’s resignation. “In ecumenism, he was a reliable partner for me on the way to more community from the source of shared spirituality. In no difficult situation, no matter how difficult, have I experienced him without the confidence of faith. That is probably his greatest gift.”
