Wolfgang Rösch (born 25 August 1959) is a German

Catholic 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 ...

priest. He was from 2010 to 2013 Dean of

Wiesbaden Wiesbaden (; ) is the capital of the German state of Hesse, and the second-largest Hessian city after Frankfurt am Main. With around 283,000 inhabitants, it is List of cities in Germany by population, Germany's 24th-largest city. Wiesbaden form ...

at the parish St. Bonifatius. From 23 October 2013 he has been

vicar general A vicar general (previously, archdeacon) is the principal deputy of the bishop or archbishop of a diocese or an archdiocese for the exercise of administrative authority and possesses the title of local ordinary. As vicar of the bishop, the vica ...

of the Diocese of Limburg, also administering the diocese during the absence of the bishop.

Career

Born in

, Rösch grew up in

Erbach, Rheingau Erbach () is a ''Stadtteil'' in Eltville am Rhein, Hesse, Germany. It lies within the Rheingau wine region. Geography It is located West of Eltville, Erbach lies where Kissel stream (formerly called Eberbach) flows into the Rhine. History ...

as one of four brothers. He first studied

mechanical engineering Mechanical engineering is the study of physical machines and mechanism (engineering), mechanisms that may involve force and movement. It is an engineering branch that combines engineering physics and engineering mathematics, mathematics principl ...

for five years at the

Technische Universität Darmstadt The Technische Universität Darmstadt (official English name Technical University of Darmstadt, sometimes also referred to as Darmstadt University of Technology), commonly known as TU Darmstadt, is a research university in the city of Darmsta ...

. A month after completing his studies he began to study philosophy and theology at the Philosophisch-Theologische Hochschule Sankt Georgen in Frankfurt, later at the

Pontifical Gregorian University Pontifical Gregorian University (; also known as the Gregorian or Gregoriana), is a private university, private pontifical university in Rome, Italy. The Gregorian originated as a part of the Roman College, founded in 1551 by Ignatius of Loyo ...

in Rome. He was ordained as a priest in Rome in 1990 by Karl Lehmann. His first positions were as ''Kaplan'' (assisting minister) in

Wetzlar Wetzlar () is a city in the state of Hesse, Germany. It is the twelfth largest city in Hesse with currently 55,371 inhabitants at the beginning of 2019 (including second homes). As an important cultural, industrial and commercial center, the un ...

and

Hadamar Hadamar () is a small town in Limburg-Weilburg district in Hesse, Germany. Hadamar is known for its Clinic for Forensics, Forensic Psychiatry/Centre for Social Psychiatry, lying at the edge of town, in whose outlying buildings is also found th ...

. He led the office ''Diözesanstelle Berufe der Kirche'' of the Diocese of Limburg. In 1997 he succeeded as ''Regens'' (director) of the ''Priesterseminar Limburg'' (seminary for candidates for the priesthood). In 2003 bishop

Franz Kamphaus Franz Kamphaus (2 February 1932 – 28 October 2024) was a German Catholic prelate, bishop emeritus of the Diocese of Limburg. He was bishop of the diocese from 1982 after teaching pastoral theology and homiletics at the University of Münster. ...

made him minister of the parishes of Königstein and

Kronberg Kronberg im Taunus (, ) is a town in the Hochtaunuskreis district, Hesse, Germany and part of the Frankfurt Rhein-Main urban area. Before 1866, it was in the Duchy of Nassau; in that year the whole Duchy was absorbed into Prussia. Kronberg lies ...

From 2010 to 2013, Rösch was Catholic dean of the city of Wiesbaden and minister of St. Bonifatius, He managed in 2012 the union of eight parishes to a larger parish (, literally: pastoral space). He was also at the same time president of the Wiesbaden chapter of Caritas. He succeeded as general vicar of Limburg from 23 October 2013, not only assisting the bishop

Franz-Peter Tebartz-van Elst Franz-Peter Tebartz-van Elst (born 20 November 1959) is a German prelate of the Catholic Church and theologian. He was a vicar and an auxiliary bishop in Münster before becoming the Bishop of Limburg in January 2008. Pope Francis removed hi ...

as originally planned but leading the diocese while the bishop is suspended by the Vatican. Vatican Radio published: "Vicar General Rösch will administer the diocese of Limburg during the absence of the diocesan bishop, within the sphere of competence associated with this office". At a press conference in Limburg, he spoke about plans for personal meetings to re-establish trust, admitting that it is difficult. ("Es ist immer schwer, verlorenes Vertrauen zurückzugewinnen.") He stated that whatever the investigation commission will reveal, there will be no winner. ("Egal wie es ausgeht, es wird keinen Sieger geben.") He described himself as "eher ein Mann der zweiten Reihe, ein Mann, der den direkten Kontakt suche, ein Mann der Demut" (rather a man in the second row, a man who seeks direct contact, a man of humility"). A farewell service was held in Wiesbaden on 12 January 2014, attended by 1,200 people. Rösch invited participants not to concentrate on what is missing but rely on creative energy ("kreative Kraft") and hope.

References

External links

St. Bonifatius Wiesbaden

In Limburg, a solution… for now
In Caelo et in Terra 23 October 2013
Im Namen des Papstes

Süddeutsche Zeitung The ''Süddeutsche Zeitung'' (; ), published in Munich, Bavaria, is one of the largest and most influential daily newspapers in Germany. The tone of ''SZ'' is mainly described as centre-left, liberal, social-liberal, progressive-liberal, and ...

24 October 2013
„Ich bin kein Vertrauter des Bischofs“
Interview in

Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung The (; ''FAZ''; "Frankfurt General Newspaper") is a German newspaper founded in 1949. It is published daily in Frankfurt and is considered a newspaper of record for Germany. Its Sunday edition is the ''Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung'' ( ...

25 October 2013
Top News Photo

Reuters Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide writing in 16 languages. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world. The agency ...

, 30 October 2013 {{DEFAULTSORT:Rosch, Wolfgang 21st-century German Roman Catholic priests People from Rheingau-Taunus-Kreis Sankt Georgen Graduate School of Philosophy and Theology alumni Pontifical Gregorian University alumni 1959 births Living people Technische Universität Darmstadt alumni 20th-century German Roman Catholic priests