GERMANY
Headlines from the Catholic World
Berlin, Germany, Jun 8, 2015 / 01:37 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- The Vatican confirmed on Monday, June 8 that Pope Francis has appointed Bishop Heiner Koch of Dresden-Meissen as Archbishop of Berlin.
As Archbishop of Berlin, he will shepherd a population of 5.7 million, of whom 407,000 are Catholics. The Berlin archdiocese also has 421 priests and 668 religious.
Bishop Koch was born in 1954 in Duesseldorf, and studied theology in Bonn. He was ordained a priest of the Archdiocese of Cologne on his 26th birthday, in 1980. …
Bishop Koch is also involved in preparations for the Synod on the Family being held in Rome in October, and joins Cardinal Reinhard Marx of Munich and Freising and Bishop Franz-Josef Bode, of Osnabrueck as the bishops who will represent Germany at the synod.
All three delegates are known to support the ‘Kasper proposal’, which would allow some divorced-and-civilly-remarried Catholics to receive Communion after a period of penance.
According to a list of participants compiled by Edward Pentin and published by the National Catholic Register, Bishop Koch was present at the “Shadow Council” held May 25 at the Pontifical Gregorian University. That meeting aimed to promote “a pastoral opening on issues such as communion for the divorced and remarried, and the pastoral care of homosexuals,” according to one of its participants.
And in a February interview with a German newspaper, Bishop Koch called for changes in the pastoral care of homosexuals, saying that to “portray homosexuality as a sin is hurtful,” adding that the Church “needs a different language when it comes to homosexuals … I know gay couples who value reliability and commitment and live these in an exemplary manner.”
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