| His Eminence Joachim Meisner |
|
|---|---|
| Archbishop of Cologne | |
Oil on canvas by Gerd Mosbach |
|
| Church | Cologne Cathedral |
| Archdiocese | Cologne |
| Province | Cologne |
| Enthroned | 12 February 1989 (23 years, 10 days) |
| Predecessor | Joseph Höffner |
| Other posts | Bishop of Berlin (1980-1988) |
| Orders | |
| Ordination | 22 December 1962 |
| Consecration | 17 May 1975 |
| Created Cardinal | 2 February 1983 |
| Rank | Cardinal-Priest |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 25 December 1933 Breslau, Prussia German Reich |
Joachim Meisner (born December 25, 1933) is a German cardinal of the Catholic Church. He is the current Archbishop of Cologne, serving since 1989.[1] He previously served as Bishop of Berlin from 1980 to 1989, and was created a cardinal in 1983.[2] He is widely considered to be Germany's leading conservative Catholic figure.[3][4][5]
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Meisner was born in Breslau, which was then part of Germany, but is now known as Wrocław in southwestern Poland.[6] He studied at the seminary of Erfurt from 1959 to 1962,[6] and was ordained a deacon on 8 April 1962.[7] On 22 December 1962, he was ordained to the priesthood by Bishop Josef Freusberg, an auxiliary bishop of the Diocese of Fulda.[2]
Between 1963 and 1975, Meisner served as chaplain at St. Giles Parish in Heiligenstadt and Holy Cross Parish in Erfurt.[6] He also served as diocesan director of Caritas.[7] During his pastoral ministry, he furthered his studies at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome, where he received his doctorate of theology in 1969.[1]
In 1975, he was elected titular Bishop of Vina and auxiliary bishop to the Apostolic Administrator Erfurt-Meiningen. He was elected as a delegate to the Fourth Synod of Bishops at the Vatican in 1977, where he renewed a friendship with Karol Wojtyła. After Wojtyła was elected Pope John Paul II, he appointed Meisner Bishop of Berlin in 1980, and proclaimed him Cardinal in the consistory of 2 February 1983, with the title Cardinal-Priest of S. Pudenziana.
| Styles of Joachim Meisner |
|
|---|---|
| Reference style | His Eminence |
| Spoken style | Your Eminence |
| Informal style | Cardinal |
| See | Cologne |
In 1988 after the death of Joseph Höffner, Meisner was promoted to the position of Archbishop of Cologne, a post he continues to hold. He was one of the cardinal electors who participated in the 2005 papal conclave that selected Pope Benedict XVI. Cardinal Meisner was the bishop in charge for the XX. World Youth Day in August 2005 in the archdiocese in Cologne that attracted more than one million people. As the leader of Germany's biggest and wealthiest archdiocese, the Cardinal holds a very significant moral and social position, too.
Meisner regularly travels to the Vatican to meet Pope Benedict in private.
Meisner is known for his absolute support to the Pope in Rome and all the Church's teachings. Pope John Paul asked for Cardinal Meisner to see him when he was in the Gemelli Hospital in Rome. Meisner had a very close relationship to Pope John Paul II and is a long time friend of Joseph Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XVI.
He said of Pope Benedict "He [Pope Benedict] has the intelligence of 12 professors and is as pious as a child on the day of his first communion."[8]
"Wherever culture is separated from the worship of God, cult atrophies in ritualism and culture becomes degenerate", said Meisner at the blessing of his own archdiocese's new art museum, the Kolumba, on 14 September 2007. His choice of words recalled the phrase "entartete Kunst" ("degenerate art") used as the title of the exhibition opened by Adolf Hitler in Munich on 19 July 1937 and provoked strong negative reaction.[9]
It was widely recognized that Meisner was venting his anger about the stained-glass window in Cologne Cathedral by Gerhard Richter, which was revealed just weeks before and of which he disapproved.[10][11][12]
| Catholic Church titles | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Alfred Bengsch until 1979 |
Bishop of Berlin 1980–1988 |
Succeeded by Georg Sterzinsky in 1989 |
| Preceded by Joseph Höffner |
Archbishop of Cologne 1989–present |
Succeeded by incumbent |
| Preceded by Gerhard Schaffran |
Chairman of the Berlin Conference of Catholic Bishops 1982-1988 |
Succeeded by Joachim Wanke |