Ludwig Averkamp (16 February 1927 – 29 July 2013) was a German

prelate A prelate () is a high-ranking member of the Christian clergy who is an ordinary or who ranks in precedence with ordinaries. The word derives from the Latin , the past participle of , which means 'carry before', 'be set above or over' or 'pref ...

of the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

. He served as

Bishop of Osnabrück A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

from 1987 to 1994, and

Archbishop of Hamburg The Archdiocese of Hamburg (Lat. ''Archidioecesis Hamburgensis''; Ger. Erzbistum Hamburg) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese in the north of Germany and covers the Federal States of Hamburg and Schleswig-Holstein as well as ...

from 1994 to 2002.Ludwig Averkamp
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Biography

Born in

Velen Velen is a town in the district Borken, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany with about 12,000 citizens. It consists of the two settlements of Velen and Ramsdorf and the four rural regions Ostendorf-Krueckling, Bleking-Holthausen, Nordvelen and Wald ...

, Averkamp was

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the denominational hierarchy composed of other clergy) to perform va ...

to the priesthood by Archbishop Ettore Cunial on 10 October 1954. On 18 January 1973 he was appointed Auxiliary Bishop of

Münster Münster (; nds, Mönster) is an independent city (''Kreisfreie Stadt'') in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is in the northern part of the state and is considered to be the cultural centre of the Westphalia region. It is also a state distr ...

and

Titular Bishop A titular bishop in various churches is a bishop who is not in charge of a diocese. By definition, a bishop is an "overseer" of a community of the faithful, so when a priest is ordained a bishop, the tradition of the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox an ...

of ''

Thapsus Thapsus, also known as Tampsus and as Thapsus Minor to distinguish it from Thapsus in Sicily, was a Carthaginian and Roman port near present-day Bekalta, Tunisia. Geography Thapsus was established on Ras ed-Dimas, an easily defended promontory ...

''. Averkamp received his

episcopal consecration A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or offic ...

on the following 24 February from Bishop Heinrich Tenhumberg, with Bishops Heinrich Baaken and Laurenz Böggering serving as

co-consecrators A consecrator is a bishop who ordains someone to the episcopacy. A co-consecrator is someone who assists the consecrator bishop in the act of ordaining a new bishop. The terms are used in the canon law of the Catholic Church, Lutheran Churches, ...

. He was named

Coadjutor Bishop A coadjutor bishop (or bishop coadjutor) is a bishop in the Catholic, Anglican, and (historically) Eastern Orthodox churches whose main role is to assist the diocesan bishop in the administration of the diocese. The coadjutor (literally, "co ...

Osnabrück Osnabrück (; wep, Ossenbrügge; archaic ''Osnaburg'') is a city in the German state of Lower Saxony. It is situated on the river Hase in a valley penned between the Wiehen Hills and the northern tip of the Teutoburg Forest. With a population ...

on 7 November 1985, and succeeded Helmut Wittler on 9 September 1987. Averkamp was later made the first Archbishop of Hamburg by

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 ...

on 24 October 1994; he was installed as such on 7 January 1995. Upon reaching age 75, Averkamp resigned as

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

's archbishop on 16 February 2002, after seven years of service. The Archbishop

Emeritus ''Emeritus'' (; female: ''emerita'') is an adjective used to designate a retired chair, professor, pastor, bishop, pope, director, president, prime minister, rabbi, emperor, or other person who has been "permitted to retain as an honorary title ...

was also a member of the

European Academy of Sciences and Arts The European Academy of Sciences and Arts (EASA, la, Academia Scientiarum et Artium Europaea) is a transnational and interdisciplinary network, connecting about 2,000 recommended scientists and artists worldwide, including 37 Nobel Prize laure ...

, in

World Religions World religions is a category used in the study of religion to demarcate the five—and in some cases more—largest and most internationally widespread religious movements. Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam are always includ ...

References

External links

Archdiocese of Hamburg - in German
{{DEFAULTSORT:Averkamp, Ludwig 1927 births 2013 deaths German military personnel of World War II Archbishops of Hamburg Roman Catholic bishops of Osnabrück 20th-century Roman Catholic archbishops in Germany 21st-century Roman Catholic archbishops in Germany Members of the European Academy of Sciences and Arts 20th-century German Roman Catholic priests People from Borken (district)