Manfred Melzer (28 February 1944 – 9 August 2018) was a German

bishop 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 ...

of the

Roman 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 ...

. Appointed by

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 ...

, Melzer was serving as an Auxiliary Bishop of the

Archdiocese of Cologne The Archdiocese of Cologne ( la, Archidioecesis Coloniensis; german: Erzbistum Köln) is an archdiocese of the Catholic Church in western North Rhine-Westphalia and northern Rhineland-Palatinate in Germany. History The Electorate of Cologn ...

from 1995 to 2015.

Early life

Born in Solingen-Ohligs, Melzer studied in

Bonn The federal city of Bonn ( lat, Bonna) is a city on the banks of the Rhine in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, with a population of over 300,000. About south-southeast of Cologne, Bonn is in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ruhr r ...

Freiburg im Breisgau Freiburg im Breisgau (; abbreviated as Freiburg i. Br. or Freiburg i. B.; Low Alemannic German, Low Alemannic: ''Friburg im Brisgau''), commonly referred to as Freiburg, is an independent city in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. With a population o ...

and

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western States of Germany, state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 m ...

theology Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...

. He was ordained to the Priesthood on 1 February 1972 by

Cardinal Cardinal or The Cardinal may refer to: Animals * Cardinal (bird) or Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **''Cardinalis'', genus of cardinal in the family Cardinalidae **''Cardinalis cardinalis'', or northern cardinal, the ...

Joseph Höffner Joseph Höffner (24 December 1906 – 16 October 1987) was a German cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as the Archbishop of Cologne from 1969 to 1987 and was elevated to the cardinalate in 1969. Biography Born in Horhausen, H� ...

, the then

Archbishop In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdi ...

of Cologne at the

Cologne Cathedral Cologne Cathedral (german: Kölner Dom, officially ', English: Cathedral Church of Saint Peter) is a Catholic cathedral in Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia. It is the seat of the Archbishop of Cologne and of the administration of the Archdiocese of ...

. Upon his ordination, Cardinal Höffner made Melzer his personal secretary and the cathedral administrator. He remained Cardinal Höffner's secretary until Höffner's death in 1987. On 17 March 1984,

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

Chaplain of His Holiness A Chaplain of His Holiness is a priest to whom the Pope has granted this title. They are addressed as Monsignor and have certain privileges with respect to ecclesiastical dress and vestments.Waldbröl Waldbröl is a town in the southern part of the Oberbergischer Kreis (upper Berg county), in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Geography Location The town is located on the slopes of the Nutscheid range of hills and is part of the Bergisches Land ...

and the municipality

Nümbrecht Nümbrecht is a municipality in the Oberbergischer Kreis, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is a health resort, known for its good climate. Geography Nümbrecht is located about 40 km east of Cologne. Neighbouring places Division of ...

Episcopal career

On 9 June 1995, Pope John Paul II appointed Melzer the

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 ...

Carinola Carinola is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Caserta in the Italian region Campania, located c. northwest of Naples, c. northwest of Caserta, and c. southeast of Rome. Carinola borders the following municipalities: Falciano del ...

(Italy) and auxiliary bishop in Cologne. He was consecrated by the Cologne archbishop

Joachim Meisner Joachim Meisner (25 December 1933 – 5 July 2017) was a German cardinal of the Catholic Church. He was the immediate past Archbishop of Cologne, serving from 1989 until his resignation was accepted by Pope Francis in 2014. He previously serve ...

on 10 September 1995 in the Cologne Cathedral. Melzer was responsible for the pastoral district middle of the archbishopric of Cologne; the town and surroundings (20 deanships). At the same time, the archbishop appointed him the bishop's curate for the women's orders in the archbishopric of Cologne. In 1998 Melzer was chosen in the metropolitan chapter. As a member of the

German Bishops' Conference The German Bishops' Conference (german: Deutsche Bischofskonferenz) is the episcopal conference of the bishops of the Roman Catholic dioceses in Germany. Members include diocesan bishops, coadjutors, auxiliary bishops, and diocesan administrato ...

, he was a member of the pastoral commission and the commission for questions of the world church. Since 2004, Melzer was also chairperson of German Lourdes, an association Cologne inc. He also was the representative of the Archdiocese of Cologne in Misereor eV and representative of the Archbishop in the Cardinal Höffner Society. In 2006 the German bishops chose him to be the representative for Catholic police officers in Germany and to take care of their spiritual welfare.

External links

web page about Manfred Melzer (archbishopric Cologne)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Melzer, Manfred 1944 births 2018 deaths German Roman Catholic titular bishops People from Solingen