Rudolf Voderholzer (9 October 1959) is a

prelate A prelate () is a high-ranking member of the Minister (Christianity), Christian clergy who is an Ordinary (church officer), ordinary or who ranks in precedence with ordinaries. The word derives from the Latin , the past participle of , which me ...

of the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

. He is

bishop A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy 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 and administration of di ...

Regensburg Regensburg (historically known in English as Ratisbon) is a city in eastern Bavaria, at the confluence of the rivers Danube, Naab and Regen (river), Regen, Danube's northernmost point. It is the capital of the Upper Palatinate subregion of the ...

since 2012.

Life

Born in

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

, Voderholzer studied at the

Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich The Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (simply University of Munich, LMU or LMU Munich; ) is a public university, public research university in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. Originally established as the University of Ingolstadt in 1472 by Duke ...

where he received an MA in 1985 and a diploma in theology in 1986. He was

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are Consecration in Christianity, consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the religious denomination, denominationa ...

to the priesthood on 17 June 1987 by Friedrich Cardinal Wetter serving in Munich and Freising. He worked as a

chaplain A chaplain is, traditionally, a cleric (such as a minister, priest, pastor, rabbi, purohit, or imam), or a lay representative of a religious tradition, attached to a secular institution (such as a hospital, prison, military unit, intellige ...

in Traunreut, Haar and Zorneding. In 1992 he became an assistant at the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich to

Gerhard Ludwig Müller Gerhard Ludwig Müller (; born 31 December 1947) is a German Catholic prelate who served as the Cardinal-Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith from his appointment by Pope Benedict XVI in 2012 until 2017. Pope Francis e ...

, professor in Dogmatic theology, acquiring a doctorate in theology in 1997. In 2004 he finished his

habilitation Habilitation is the highest university degree, or the procedure by which it is achieved, in Germany, France, Italy, Poland and some other European and non-English-speaking countries. The candidate fulfills a university's set criteria of excelle ...

period, and that same year he started working in the department for belief- and religionsciences and philosophy at the

University of Fribourg The University of Fribourg (; ) is a public university located in Fribourg, Switzerland. The roots of the university can be traced back to 1580, when the notable Jesuit Peter Canisius founded the Collège Saint-Michel in the City of Fribourg ...

, where he was head of department from 2004 till 2005. From 2005 till 2013 he was professor of Dogmatics and history of dogma at the theological faculty of the University of Trier. On 6 December 2012 he was appointed bishop of

. Voderholzer received his episcopal consecration on 26 January 2013, from Reinhard Cardinal Marx, archbishop of Munich and Freising, with the former bishop of Regensburg,

; and the bishop of

Plzeň Plzeň (), also known in English and German as Pilsen (), is a city in the Czech Republic. It is the Statutory city (Czech Republic), fourth most populous city in the Czech Republic with about 188,000 inhabitants. It is located about west of P ...

, František Radkovsky, 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 Churche ...

. He chose the motto ''Christus in vobis spes gloriae''. In 2017, it was reported that at least 547 boys in the prestigious Domspatzen choir were physically abused, sexually abused or both between the years 1945 and 1992 and that Voderholzer announced plans to offer victims compensation of between 5,000 and 20,000 euros ($5,730 US and $22,930) each by the end of the year.

References

External links

Entry about Rudolf Voderholzer at ''catholic-hierarchy.org''
1959 births 21st-century German Roman Catholic bishops 21st-century Roman Catholic bishops in Germany Roman Catholic bishops of Regensburg Living people Clergy from Munich Bishops appointed by Pope Benedict XVI {{Germany-RC-bishop-stub