Georg Maximilian Sterzinsky (9 February 1936 – 30 June 2011) was a German cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church and the

Archbishop of Berlin The Archdiocese of Berlin is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or archdiocese of the Catholic Church in Germany. The archepiscopal see is in Berlin, with the archdiocese's territory extending over Northeast Germany. As of 2004, the arch ...

Early life

Sterzinsky was born in Warlack (earlier also Wurlacken, Warlaucken, now Worławki, Olsztyn County), Landkreis Heilsberg, in German

East Prussia East Prussia ; german: Ostpreißen, label=Low Prussian; pl, Prusy Wschodnie; lt, Rytų Prūsija was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1773 to 1829 and again from 1878 (with the Kingdom itself being part of the German Empire from 187 ...

. He lost his mother as a child and his family took refuge in

Thuringia Thuringia (; german: Thüringen ), officially the Free State of Thuringia ( ), is a state of central Germany, covering , the sixth smallest of the sixteen German states. It has a population of about 2.1 million. Erfurt is the capital and larg ...

, due to the expulsions following the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

; his homeland of

Warmia Warmia ( pl, Warmia; Latin: ''Varmia'', ''Warmia''; ; Warmian: ''Warńija''; lt, Varmė; Old Prussian: ''Wārmi'') is both a historical and an ethnographic region in northern Poland, forming part of historical Prussia. Its historic capitals ...

is now within

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

Priest and bishop

Sterzinsky was ordained a priest in 1960. After serving as a parish priest for fifteen years, he became Vicar General to the Bishop of

Erfurt Erfurt () is the capital and largest city in the Central German state of Thuringia. It is located in the wide valley of the Gera river (progression: ), in the southern part of the Thuringian Basin, north of the Thuringian Forest. It sits i ...

in 1981. In 1989, he himself was appointed Bishop of Berlin and, in 1994, he became Archbishop when that see was raised to Archdiocese.

Cardinal

Sterzinsky was proclaimed

Cardinal-Priest A cardinal ( la, Sanctae Romanae Ecclesiae cardinalis, literally 'cardinal of the Holy Roman Church') is a senior member of the clergy of the Catholic Church. Cardinals are created by the ruling pope and typically hold the title for life. Col ...

of '' S. Giuseppe all'Aurelio'' on 28 June 1991. He was one of the

cardinal electors A cardinal ( la, Sanctae Romanae Ecclesiae cardinalis, literally 'cardinal of the Holy Roman Church') is a senior member of the clergy of the Catholic Church. Cardinals are created by the ruling pope and typically hold the title for life. Col ...

who participated in the 2005 papal conclave that selected

Pope Benedict XVI Pope Benedict XVI ( la, Benedictus XVI; it, Benedetto XVI; german: link=no, Benedikt XVI.; born Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger, , on 16 April 1927) is a retired prelate of the Catholic church who served as the head of the Church and the sovereign ...

. Pope Benedict XVI accepted Cardinal Sterzinsky's retirement as Metropolitan Archbishop of the

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Berlin The Archdiocese of Berlin is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or archdiocese of the Catholic Church in Germany. The archepiscopal see is in Berlin, with the archdiocese's territory extending over Northeast Germany. As of 2004, the archd ...

on 24 February 2011, for reasons of age (he had reached the age limit of 75) and health. No successor was immediately named for Cardinal Sterzinsky upon his retirement, so the Archdiocese of Berlin was a vacant see (

sede vacante ''Sede vacante'' ( in Latin.) is a term for the state of a diocese while without a bishop. In the canon law of the Catholic Church, the term is used to refer to the vacancy of the bishop's or Pope's authority upon his death or resignation. Hi ...

) at the time. Auxiliary Bishop Matthias Heinrich was appointed apostolic administrator until a new Archbishop was named. In April 2011 Cardinal Sterzinsky was transferred to a rehabilitation clinic. In May 2011 it was reported that his condition was very serious after he developed

pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severity ...

and had to be brought from the rehabilitation centre back to the hospital. Cardinal Sterzinsky died on 30 June. Pope Benedict XVI sent a telegram of condolence to Auxiliary Bishop Heinrich, expressing his closeness to the people of the Archdiocese and praising Sterzinsky's efforts in serving the people of Berlin during the fall of the Berlin Wall and the transition to a united Germany. On 2 July 2011, two days after the Cardinal's death, Pope Benedict XVI, named

Rainer Maria Woelki Rainer Maria Woelki (; born 18 August 1956) is a German Cardinal of the Catholic Church. He has been Archbishop of Cologne since his installation on 20 September 2014 following his election by the Cathedral Chapter to succeed Joachim Meisner in ...

as the new Metropolitan Archbishop of Berlin.

Views

In November 2004, Sterzinsky criticized the notion of "

gay marriage Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same sex or gender. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 33 countries, with the most recent being Mexico, constituting ...

". He argued in a sermon that it could be necessary for Catholics to protest and resist gay marriage laws "''die dem Gesetz Gottes widersprechen''" ("that are contradictory to the laws of God").

References

External links

Bio
from the Vatican

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sterzinsky, Georg 1936 births 2011 deaths People from Olsztyn County 20th-century German cardinals Roman Catholic bishops of Berlin Archbishops of Berlin 21st-century German cardinals People from East Prussia Grand Crosses with Star and Sash of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Cardinals created by Pope John Paul II Burials at St. Hedwig's Cathedral