Friedrich Wetter

His Eminence Friedrich Wetter
Cardinal, Archbishop Emeritus of Munich and Freising
Church	Roman Catholic Church
Archdiocese	Munich and Freising
See	Munich and Freising
Appointed	28 October 1982
Installed	12 December 1982
Term ended	2 February 2007
Predecessor	Joseph Ratzinger
Successor	Reinhard Marx
Other post(s)	Cardinal Priest of Santo Stephano in Coelio Monte (1985-)
Orders
Ordination	10 October 1953 by Clemente Micara
Consecration	29 June 1968 by Isidor Markus Emanuel
Created cardinal	25 May 1985 by Pope John Paul II
Rank	Cardinal-Priest
Personal details
Birth name	Friedrich Wetter
Born	(1928-02-20) 20 February 1928 (age 93) Landau, Palatinate, Bavaria, Germany
Nationality	German
Denomination	Catholic (Roman Rite)
Previous post(s)	Bishop of Speyer (1968-82) Apostolic Administrator of Munich and Freising (2007)
Alma mater	Sankt Georgen Graduate School of Philosophy and Theology Pontifical Gregorian University
Motto	Pax Vobis ("Peace to you")
Coat of arms

Styles of Friedrich Wetter
Reference style	His Eminence
Spoken style	Your Eminence
Informal style	Cardinal
See	Munich and Freising (emeritus)

Friedrich Wetter (born 20 February 1928 in Landau, Palatinate, Bavaria, Germany)^[1] is a German cardinal of the Catholic Church. He was Archbishop of Munich and Freising, Germany, from 1982 to 2007. He was Bishop of Speyer from 1968 to 1982. Pope John Paul II made him a cardinal in 1985.

At age 93, Cardinal Wetter is the oldest living cardinal from Germany.^[2]

Early life and ordination[]

Wetter studied in Landau and then, from 1948 to 1956, at the Sankt Georgen Graduate School of Philosophy and Theology and in the Gregorian University in Rome, where he obtained a doctorate in theology. In 1953, he was ordained a priest in Rome.^[3]

After being chaplain for two years (1956–1958) in Speyer, teaching in the seminary in the same city for another two years (1958–1960), and being assistant parish priest for a year in Glanmünchweiler, he became Professor of Fundamental Theology in Eichstätt for five years (1962–1967) and Professor of Dogmatic Theology at the Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz in 1967, a post he held for only one year before being appointed bishop.^[4]

Bishop[]

He was Bishop of Speyer (1968–1982) and became Archbishop of Munich and Freising in 1982.^[5]

Portrait of Wetter by Günter Rittner, 1997

Cardinal[]

He was made a Cardinal by Pope John Paul II in 1985, with the title of Cardinal-Priest of Santo Stefano Rotondo. He was one of the cardinal electors who participated in the 2005 papal conclave that selected Pope Benedict XVI.^[6]

Pope Benedict accepted his resignation on 2 February 2007.^[7]

Views[]

Rights of Catholic politicians[]

Cardinal Wetter criticized in 2004 the Italian government's withdrawal of its nomination of Rocco Buttiglione to the European Commission.^[8]

Liturgical abuses[]

In an open letter in 2004, Wetter wrote that anonymous informers reporting liturgical abuses would labour in vain in the Archdiocese of Munich. "Blackening people's names, especially when the talebearer wishes to stay anonymous, will not get anyone anywhere in our archdiocese," Wetter warned. His comments followed the promulgation of the Vatican instruction on abuses in the liturgy, Redemptionis Sacramentum.

Works (selscted)[]

• Die Trinitätslehre des Johannes Duns Scotus (= Beiträge zur Geschichte der Philosophie und Theologie des Mittelalters, file 41, H. 5), Aschendorff, Münster 1967, (Thesis of Habilitation, University of Munich, Munich, Theological Faculty, 28. Oktober 1965).

References[]

External links[]

• "Wetter Card. Friedrich". Holy See Press Office. Archived from the original on 4 September 2017. Retrieved 9 November 2017.