Reinhard Marx
| His Eminence Reinhard Marx | |
|---|---|
| Cardinal-Archbishop of Munich and Freising | |
 Cardinal Marx in 2010 | |
| Appointed | 30 November 2007 |
| Installed | 2 February 2008 |
| Predecessor | Friedrich Wetter |
| Other posts |
Cardinal-Priest of S. Corbiniano President of the Commission of the Bishops' Conferences of the European Community President of German Bishops' Conference Coordinator of Council for the Economy Member of the Council of Cardinals |
| Orders | |
| Ordination |
2 June 1979 by Johannes Joachim Degenhardt |
| Consecration |
21 September 1996 by Johannes Joachim Degenhardt |
| Created Cardinal |
20 November 2010 by Benedict XVI |
| Rank | Cardinal-Priest |
| Personal details | |
| Birth name | Reinhard Marx |
| Born |
21 September 1953 Geseke, Germany |
| Nationality | German |
| Denomination | Roman Catholic |
| Previous post |
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| Motto |
ubi spiritus domini ibi libertas (Where The Spirit of the lord is, there is liberty) |
| Coat of arms |
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Reinhard Marx (born 21 September 1953) is a German Cardinal of the Catholic Church and chairman of the German Bishops' Conference. He serves as the archbishop of Munich and Freising. Pope Benedict XVI elevated Cardinal Marx to the cardinalate in a consistory on 20 November 2010. At the time of his elevation, Cardinal Marx became the youngest member of the College of Cardinals, succeeding Péter Cardinal Erdő, the Cardinal-Archbishop of Budapest, who was elevated in 2003. He is eligible to vote in all papal conclaves which begin on or before 21 September 2033, his 80th birthday.
Biography
Born in Geseke, North Rhine-Westphalia, Cardinal Marx was ordained to the priesthood, for the Archdiocese of Paderborn, by Archbishop Johannes Joachim Degenhardt on 2 June 1979. He obtained a doctorate in theology, from the University of Bochum,[1] in 1989.
On 23 July 1996, he was appointed Auxiliary Bishop of Paderborn and Titular Bishop of Petina by Pope John Paul II. Marx was conscrated on 21 September (his forty-third birthday) by Archbishop Degenhardt, with Bishops Hans Drewes and Paul Consbruch serving as co-consecrators.
On 20 December 2001 he was named Bishop of Trier (the oldest diocese in Germany), succeeding Hermann Josef Spital nearly a year after the latter's retirement. Marx is considered to be rather conservative in matters of Church discipline, but also a "social scientist ... and whiz with the media".[2] Moreover, in 2003, he suspended a theologian for extending to Protestants an invitation to the Eucharist.[3]
| Styles of Reinhard Marx | |
|---|---|
|
| |
| Reference style | His Eminence |
| Spoken style | Your Eminence |
| Informal style | Cardinal |
On 30 November 2007 Pope Benedict XVI appointed Reinhard Marx as Metropolitan Archbishop of Munich and Freising, a position that Benedict himself held from 1977 to 1981, . Rumours surrounding this were circulated before Pope Benedict's formal announcement, but Marx responded to these by saying, "The Pope names bishops, not the press".[3] On 2 February 2008, Marx was installed as Archbishop of Munich and Freising in the Munich Frauenkirche. He became Cardinal-Priest of San Corbiniano on 20 November 2010.[4] Cardinal Marx's title is that of Saint Corbinian who was the first bishop of Freising and of whom Cardinal Marx is the successor.
Cardinal Marx currently serves as head of the committee for social issues at the German Bishops' Conference. In addition to his duties as archbishop of Munich on 11 December 2010, Cardinal Marx was named by Pope Benedict as a member of the Congregation for Catholic Education for a five-year renewable term.[5] On 29 December 2010 he was appointed a member of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace.
In 2011, Marx was reported as saying that the Catholic Church “has not always adopted the right tone” toward LGBT people. He went on to add that, while he cannot officially bless a union between two people of the same sex, he can (and implicitly will) pray for their relationship if asked.[6]
On 7 March 2012, he was appointed a member of the Congregation for the Oriental Churches.[7]
On 22 March 2012, the Commission of the Bishops' Conferences of the European Community elected him its president.
He was one of the cardinal electors who participated in the 2013 papal conclave that elected Pope Francis.
On 13 April 2013 he was appointed to a group of cardinals established by Pope Francis, exactly a month after his election to advise him and to study a plan for revising the Apostolic Constitution on the Roman Curia, 'Pastor Bonus'. The other cardinals are Giuseppe Bertello, president of the Vatican City State governorate; Francisco Javier Errazuriz Ossa from Chile; Oswald Gracias from India; Laurent Monsengwo Pasinya from the Democratic Republic of the Congo; Seán Patrick O'Malley OFM Cap from the United States of America; George Pell from Australia; and Oscar Andres Rodriguez Maradiaga from Honduras. Bishop Marcello Semeraro, will act as secretary for the group. The group's first meeting has been scheduled for 1–3 October 2013. His Holiness is, however, currently in contact with the aforementioned cardinals.[8]
On the question whether the Church should allow remarried divorcees to Communion, it came to disagreements with Gerhard Ludwig Müller, the head of the Congregation of the Faith at the Vatican, in November 2013. Cardinal Marx called for a wide debate on the treatment of the Catholic Church with divorced and remarried.
When the Vatican suspended Franz-Peter Tebartz-van Elst in 2013 over his alleged lavish spending also Cardinal Reinhard Marx was criticized as he spent around $11 million renovating the archbishop’s residence and another $13 million for a guesthouse in Rome. [9]
On 19 February 2014 he was confirmed as a member of the Congregation for the Oriental Churches until the end of his current five year term.[10]
On 8 March 2014, he was named by Pope Francis as the Cardinal-Coordinator of the Council for Economic Affairs, which will oversee the Secretariat for the Economy, a new financial regulatory department of the Roman Curia.[11]
On 12 March 2014 Cardinal Marx was also elected chairman of the German Bishops' Conference as successor of Robert Zollitsch. He was elected in Münster by the German bishops and auxiliary bishops only in the fifth round of voting in which a simple majority is sufficient.
In an interview, when asked about gay people, Cardinal Marx said "I have the impression that we have a lot of work to do in the theological field, not only related to the question of divorce, but also the theology of marriage. I am astonished that some can say, “Everything is clear” on this topic. Things are not clear. It is not about church doctrine being determined by modern times. It is a question of aggiornamento, to say it in a way that the people can understand, and to always adapt our doctrine to the Gospel, to theology, in order to find in a new way the sense of what Jesus said, the meaning of the tradition of the church and of theology and so on. There is a lot to do".[12]
2014 Synod of Bishops
Addressing a question raised by the Synod of Bishops on the family, Marx said that church doctrine can change over time. The church's doctrine, Cardinal Reinhard Marx said, "doesn't depend on the spirit of time but can develop over time." "Saying that the doctrine will never change is a restrictive view of things," Marx said at a Vatican press conference. "The core of the Catholic church remains the Gospel, but have we discovered everything? This is what I doubt."[13]
The synod was one of two called by Pope Francis for 2014 and 2015 on family life issues. The interim working document, known as the relatio post disceptationem, summarized the first week of discussions, calling on the church to listen more and to apply mercy more widely.[13]
Cardinal Marx said at the time: "Take the case of two homosexuals who have been living together for 35 years and taking care of each other, even in the last phases of their lives. How can I say that this has no value?" [14]
Books
Cardinal Marx launched in October 2008 a book ("Das Kapital: A Plea for Man"), named after the work by Karl Marx, that critiques capitalism. Reinhard Marx said the current worldwide financial crisis required a "fundamental social debate" and raised questions about the capacity of contemporary economies to "ensure the welfare of the world."
References
- ↑ "College of Cardinals". Ewtn.com. Retrieved 13 November 2014.
- ↑ "Whispers in the Loggia". Whispersintheloggia.blogspot.com. Retrieved 13 November 2014.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Whispers in the Loggia". Whispersintheloggia.blogspot.com. Retrieved 13 November 2014.
- ↑
- ↑
- ↑ "German Cardinal Criticizes Roman Catholic Church for Negative Tone Toward LGBT People". GLAAD. Retrieved 13 November 2014.
- ↑
- ↑
- ↑ "German Catholic Church Has A Lot Of Money - As In The Diocese of Cologne Might Be Richer Than The Vatican". The Huffington Post. Retrieved 13 November 2014.
- ↑ "RINUNCE E NOMINE, 19.02.2014". Press.vatican.va. Retrieved 13 November 2014.
- ↑ "COMUNICATO DELLA SALA STAMPA DELLA SANTA SEDE, 08.03.2014". Press.vatican.va. Retrieved 13 November 2014.
- ↑ Cardinal Marx on Francis, the Synod, Women in the Church and Gay Relationships
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 "Cardinal Marx: Doctrine can develop, change". Ncronline.org. Retrieved 13 November 2014.
- ↑ "Divided bishops water down welcome to gays and the divorced". Cruxnow.com. Retrieved 13 November 2014.
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Reinhard Marx. |
- Catholic-Hierarchy
- Archdiocese of Munich and Freising (German)
- Diocese of Trier (German)
| Catholic Church titles | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Hermann Josef Spital |
Bishop of Trier 2001–2008 |
Succeeded by Stephan Ackermann |
| Preceded by Friedrich Wetter |
Archbishop of Munich and Freising 2008–present |
Incumbent |
| Preceded by Robert Zollitsch |
Chairman of the German Episcopal Conference 2014–present |
Incumbent |
|