Cardinal Karl Lehmann, the former head of Germany’s Catholic Bishops’ Conference, has died. He was 81.
The Catholic group said in a statement that Lehmann died Sunday at his home in Mainz.
Lehmann had a stroke last September and in recent days, as his death seemed imminent, Catholics across the country had prayed for him.
“The church of Germany is bowing humbly in front of a personality who influenced the Catholic church worldwide,” the current head of the Bishops’ Conference, Cardinal Reinhard Marx, said in a statement.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said she was very sad about Lehmann’s death and called him one of the most prominent faces of the Catholic Church in Germany.
“I’m deeply grateful for our good conversations and meeting over the years,” Merkel said. She called him “an exceptionally gifted mediator, between the German Catholics and Rome, in the spirit of the ecumenical movement between the Christian churches, but also between Christians and believers of other religions.”
Lehmann was born on May 16, 1936 in the southwestern German town of Sigmaringen. He was a professor of theology and appointed as Bishop of Mainz in 1983.
As president of the German Bishops’ Conference, he led the country’s more than 23 million Catholics for 20 years.
His funeral Mass is set for March 21 at the Mainz Cathedral.
Having been unable to sell in churches for well over a year due to the pandemic, we are now inviting readers to support the Herald by investing in our future. We have been a bold and influential voice in the church since 1888, standing up for traditional Catholic culture and values.
Please join us on our 130 year mission by supporting us. We are raising £250,000 to safeguard the Herald as a world-leading voice in Catholic journalism and teaching. For more information from our chairman on contributing to the Herald Patron's Fund, click here
Make a Donation
Processing ...
Donors giving £500 or more will automatically become sponsor patrons of the Herald. This includes two complimentary print/digital gift subscriptions, invitations to Patron events, pilgrimages and dinners, and 6 gift subscriptions sent to priests, seminaries, Catholic schools, religious care homes and prison and university chaplaincies. Click here for more information on becoming a Patron Sponsor. Click here for more information about contributing to the Herald Patron's Fund