Bavaria's bishops appreciate Hanke's resignation - a new chapter begins!

Bavaria's bishops appreciate Hanke's resignation - a new chapter begins!

Eichstätt, Deutschland - On June 9, 2025, Gregor Maria Hanke, the Bishop of Eichstätt, announced his resignation. In a statement on Pentecost Sunday, he founded his decision with "inner fatigue". Hanke, who is considered a conservative and reform -critical bishop, has been in office since 2006 and is one of the latest bishops of his time when he entered the German episcopate.

The Bavarian bishops are mostly grateful for Hanke's service in the church. Passau's Bishop Stefan Oster praised Hanke on Instagram and spoke of friendship and understanding of the challenges that Hanke faced. Bishop Franz Jung also expressed his thanks and wished Hanke the power of the Holy Spirit in his new phase of life. Cardinal Reinhard Marx, the chairman of the Freising Bishops' Conference, joined the gratitude and emphasized Hanke's merits within the church, despite existing disagreements.

Hanke's career

Gregor Maria Hanke was born in Middle Franconia and was a religion teacher before entering Plankstetten as a Benedictine. At his ordination, he was 29 years old and needed twelve years for his doctoral thesis, which he completed in 2004. From 1993 to 2006 he was abbot to the Plankstetten monastery, where he initiated an ecological change to an organic monastery. The diocese of Eichstätt pursues the goal of becoming climate -neutral by 2035 and already established a climate offensive in 2013. Hanke always emphasized the close connection between climate protection and poverty control.

During his term as a bishop, Hanke was faced with various challenges. He took on an active role in crisis situations and had to intervene in 2008, as a crisis manager, and suspended the rector of the Catholic University of Eichstätt-Ingolstadt. Hanke was also challenged in the Eichstätter Finanzkandal; In 2017 he filed a complaint against the former deputy financial director of the diocese. The public prosecutor's office determined in the course of a transparency offensive that was initiated by Hanke.

controversies and reforms

Critics received Hanke primarily through his negative attitude towards the reform process "Synodal Way". He excluded participation in the Synodal Committee and was afraid to include the voices of the laypersons in decisions about the Finance Committee. The diocese also has to deal with financial difficulties. The business plan was rejected in 2023, which led to the closure of five schools. But after public criticism, the diocese kept the sponsorship for four of these schools.

Despite the challenges that Hanke mastered during his bishop's life, his role was also drastic in the context of the Bischofs elections. In February 2023, the general assembly of the Synodal Way decided that lay people should be included in the election of new bishops in the future. Although this represents a reform process, implementation remains problematic and most dioceses expressed legal concerns to put the reform into practice.

With Hanke's resignation it becomes clear that the process for reforming the bishop elections faces major challenges. It remains to be seen how these changes will affect the German Bishops' Conference and the Catholic Church as a whole. The expectations of the future bishop elections are high and those responsible are under pressure to make the right decisions.

While we are waiting for the next steps that are planned in the context of the synodal movement, the Catholic community remains excited about the development in Eichstätt and beyond. Further information about Hanke's resignation and the future challenges of the bishop's election can be found on PNP href = "https://www.katholisch.de/artikel/62220-zum-rueckstref- Von-gregor-maria-hanke-vom-bio-t-zum-bischof"> katholisch.de and katholisch.de .