Stephan Ackermann (born 20 March 1963) is a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

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 ...

. He was elected by the Cathedral Chapter as Bishop of Trier in the

Moselle The Moselle ( , ; ; ) is a river that rises in the Vosges mountains and flows through north-eastern France and Luxembourg to western Germany. It is a bank (geography), left bank tributary of the Rhine, which it joins at Koblenz. A sm ...

area of

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

in 2009.

Early life

The son of Helmy and Hermann and the eldest of two children, Ackermann grew up in

Nickenich Nickenich is a municipality in the district of Mayen-Koblenz in Rhineland-Palatinate, western Germany. File:Nickenich Tumulus 3.jpg, Tumulus A tumulus (: tumuli) is a mound of Soil, earth and Rock (geology), stones raised over a grave ...

. His father was a church books and souvenirs merchant and met his mother when she was working as a sales assistant in the Maria Laach Abbey gift shop. He has a sister named Bärbel and is the godfather of two of her children. Ackerman was educated at secondary school level in

Andernach Andernach () is a town in the district of Mayen-Koblenz, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, of about 30,000 inhabitants. It is situated towards the end of the ''Neuwied basin'' on the left bank of the Rhine between the former tiny fishing village ...

Formation and Priesthood

He entered the Trier priest seminary at the age of 18 and studied at the Gregorian and Sankt Georgen higher education ecclesiastical schools. He was ordained a priest in 1987. From 1989 to 1991, Ackerman was a chaplain in Bad Breisig in the catholic parishes of Niederbreisig and Oberbreisig. In 1991 he returned to his seminary to be appointed chancellor for 8 years. Ackermann would then replace the newly appointed auxiliary bishop of Trier Felix Genn as the director of St. Lambert priest seminary and in 2000 he received an ecclesiastical doctorate in church dogmatics by Jesuit Fr. Medard Kehl. His dissertation "Church as a Person" was followed by the book "In Action for the Church", a series of essays co-authored with Felix Genn in dialogue with the former Jesuit leader Johannes Günter Gerhartz. In November 2005 he received the title of monsignor by the

Holy See The Holy See (, ; ), also called the See of Rome, the Petrine See or the Apostolic See, is the central governing body of the Catholic Church and Vatican City. It encompasses the office of the pope as the Bishops in the Catholic Church, bishop ...

. The certificate was handed to him by the then Trier Bishop Reinhard Marx who appointed him

auxiliary bishop An auxiliary bishop is a bishop assigned to assist the diocesan bishop in meeting the pastoral and administrative needs of the diocese. Auxiliary bishops can also be titular bishops of sees that no longer exist as territorial jurisdictions. ...

6 months later.

Bishop of Trier

Ackermann became Reinhard Marx's successor as Bishop of Trier in 2009. Until the ordination of

Bishop of Passau The Diocese of Passau (; ) is a Latin diocese of the Catholic Church in Germany that is a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Munich and Freising.

Child Abuse Controversy

While being the German Bishops Conference's spokesman on child abuse issues he encouraged victims of child abuse to come forward, but later neglected actively to pursue investigations or impose harsh penalties. Ackermann had to issue a public apology after failing to immediately suspend a suspected paedophile priest in 2011 yet ignored press revelations about seven other cases of priests in the bishop's diocese who are suspected of having abused minors. In January 2011, the police informed his office that a pastor from Saarbrücken, the state capital, had allegedly abused minors. According to the guidelines of the German Bishops' Conference, prompt action had to be taken in such suspected cases, and the priest in question could be suspended until the accusations had been cleared up; nevertheless, despite these guidelines, and despite his status as the Church's spokesman on abuse issues, Ackermann allowed one suspected paedophile to remain in office. The priest continued to celebrate Mass and even held a dedication ceremony for a Catholic kindergarten in the summer. In the fall, another ceremony was held to mark his 70th birthday.

Diocesan Synod

On 29 June 2012, Bishop Ackermann proclaimed a diocesan synod that was constituted on 13 and 14 December 2013. It was the first synod in the diocese of Trier for almost 50 years.

Reform of Sexual Morality

In 2014, Ackermann said that the Roman Catholic Church should reform Roman Catholic

sexual ethics Sexual ethics (also known as sex ethics or sexual morality) is a branch of philosophy that considers the ethics or morality of Human sexual behaviour, sexual behavior. Sexual ethics seeks to understand, evaluate and critique interpersonal relatio ...

Same-sex marriages Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same legal sex. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 38 countries, with a total population of 1.5 billion people (20% ...

should be accepted and not be described as immoral

Parish Abolishment and Clergy Role Reformation Plan

Bishop Ackermann has announced that the diocese will be closing almost all of its parishes, reducing 903 parishes and all relevant organizations to 35 new regional authorities. The ''parishes of the future'' will have nothing in common with the parish concept "but the name". The new entities will include limitation to the duties of the clergy and the introduction of new duties for the laity. According to Ackermann's plan, laypeople will have the right to make decisions and lead "traditional and new worship forms" and "there'll continue to be a priest who takes overall responsibility, but tasks and duties will also be distributed by the team – so there'll be less emphasis on the clergy's leadership and more on its priestly and pastoral functions".
National Catholic Review: Europe's church creatively rethinks as numbers plummet In 2017, Ackermann became the president of the Liturgy Commission of the German Bishop's Conference. Bishop Ackermann in 2017 also called for the abolition of nuclear weapons at the Buchel airfield.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ackermann, Stephan 1963 births Living people People from Mayen Roman Catholic bishops of Trier 21st-century German Roman Catholic bishops Pontifical Gregorian University alumni Sankt Georgen Graduate School of Philosophy and Theology alumni German expatriates in Italy