Hans Schwemmer (11 September 1945 – 1 October 2001) was a German prelate of the Catholic Church who worked in the diplomatic service of the Holy See.

Biography

Hans Schwemmer was born in Riggau, a district in Pressath, Germany, on 11 September 1945. He attended in Weiden and studied theology at the

University of Regensburg The University of Regensburg (german: link=no, Universität Regensburg) is a public research university located in the medieval city of Regensburg, Bavaria, a city that is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The university was founded on 18 ...

. He was ordained a priest of the

Diocese of Regensburg The Diocese of Regensburg ( la, Dioecesis Ratisbonensis) is a Roman Catholic ecclesiastical territory seated in Regensburg, Germany. Its district covers parts of northeastern Bavaria; it is subordinate to the archbishop of Munich and Freising. , ...

on 4 July 1971 and worked as a chaplain in

Sulzbach-Rosenberg Sulzbach-Rosenberg ( bar, label=Northern Bavarian, Suizboch-Rosnberg) is a municipality in the Amberg-Sulzbach district, in Bavaria, Germany. It is situated approximately 14 km northwest of Amberg, and 50 km east of Nuremberg. The town c ...

and

Cham Cham or CHAM may refer to: Ethnicities and languages *Chams, people in Vietnam and Cambodia **Cham language, the language of the Cham people ***Cham script ***Cham (Unicode block), a block of Unicode characters of the Cham script *Cham Albanian ...

. To prepare for a diplomatic career he entered the

Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy The Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy ( la, Pontificia Ecclesiastica Academia, it, Pontificia Accademia Ecclesiastica) is one of the Roman Colleges of the Catholic Church. The academy is dedicated to training priests to serve in the diplomatic c ...

in 1975. He also earned a doctorate in canon law while in Rome. He joined the diplomatic service of the Holy See in 1979 and was given the title Monsignor on 3 June 1980. His early assignments included postings in the nunciatures in India, Belgium, and Argentina. Beginning in 1989 he worked in Rome in the offices of the Secretariat of State. On 9 July 1997,

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...

appointed him titular archbishop of Rebellum and Apostolic Nuncio

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini; ho, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niu Gini), is a country i ...

and to the

Solomon Islands Solomon Islands is an island country consisting of six major islands and over 900 smaller islands in Oceania, to the east of Papua New Guinea and north-west of Vanuatu. It has a land area of , and a population of approx. 700,000. Its capita ...

. He received his episcopal consecration on 21 September 1997 from Cardinal

Angelo Sodano Angelo Raffaele Sodano, GCC (23 November 1927 – 27 May 2022) was an Italian prelate of the Catholic Church and from 1991 on a cardinal. He was the Dean of the College of Cardinals from 2005 to 2019 and Cardinal Secretary of State from 1991 ...

. In Papua New Guinea, he confronted two priests who were holding public office, both provincial governors, in violation of canon law. He warned that if they ran for election again they would face harsher penalties than suspension of their priestly duties. One of them, Robert Lak, Governor of Western Highlands, said he had an understanding with his bishop and rejected Schwemmer's authority. He died unexpectedly in a hospital in

Cairns Cairns (, ) is a city in Queensland, Australia, on the tropical north east coast of Far North Queensland. The population in June 2019 was 153,952, having grown on average 1.02% annually over the preceding five years. The city is the 5th-most-p ...

, Australia, on 1 October 2001. He was buried in Pressath on 13 October. Archbishop-Schwemmer-Platz in Pressath is named for him.

References

External links

Catholic Hierarchy: Archbishop Hans Schwemmer
{{DEFAULTSORT:Schwemmer, Hans 1945 births 2001 deaths People from Neustadt an der Waldnaab (district) Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy alumni Apostolic Nuncios to Papua New Guinea Apostolic Nuncios to the Solomon Islands Clergy from Bavaria 20th-century German Roman Catholic bishops 20th-century German Roman Catholic priests