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Rainer Woelki

His Eminence
Rainer Maria Woelki
Cardinal, Archbishop of Cologne
Rainer woelki erzbischof von berlin.jpg
Archdiocese Cologne
Province Cologne
Appointed 11 July 2014
Installed 20 September 2014
Predecessor Joachim Meisner
Other posts Cardinal-Priest of San Giovanni Maria Vianney
Orders
Ordination 14 June 1985
by Joseph Höffner
Consecration 30 March 2003
by Joachim Meisner
Created Cardinal 18 February 2012
by Pope Benedict XVI
Rank Cardinal-Priest
Personal details
Birth name Rainer Maria Woelki
Born (1956-08-18) 18 August 1956 (age 60)
Köln-Mühlheim, Germany
Nationality German
Denomination Roman Catholic
Previous post
  • Archbishop of Berlin (2011–2014)
  • Titular Bishop of Scampa (2003–2011)
  • Auxiliary Bishop of Cologne (2003–2011)
Motto
  • Nos sumus testes
  • (We are Witnesses)
Styles of
Rainer Woelki
Coat of arms of Rainer Maria Woelki (Cologne).svg
Reference style His Eminence
Spoken style Your Eminence
Informal style Cardinal

Rainer Maria Woelki (German pronunciation: [ˈʁaɪnɒ̯ ˈmaʁˌia ˈvœlkɪ]; born 18 August 1956) is a German Cardinal of the Catholic Church. He has been Archbishop of Cologne since his installation on 20 September 2014 following his appointment by Pope Francis on 11 July to succeed Joachim Meisner in that position. He previously served as Archbishop of Berlin.

Woelki was born on 18 August 1956 in Cologne, one of three children of parents who had been expelled from East Prussia at the end of the Second World War. He studied philosophy and theology at the Theological Faculties of the universities of Bonn and Freiburg im Breisgau. On 14 June 1985 Cardinal Joseph Höffner ordained him a priest for the Archdiocese of Cologne.

From 1985 to 1989 he was assistant priest at St Mary's Parish in Neuss. In 1989, he served for a short time as military chaplain in Münster. In 1990, he became private secretary to the Archbishop of Cologne.

From 1997 to 2011, he was Director of the "Collegium Albertinum", a residence for major seminarians of the archdiocese studying at the University of Bonn. In 1999, Pope John Paul II named him a Chaplain of His Holiness, with the title of Monsignor. In 2000, he obtained a doctorate in theology, with a thesis on the ecclesiological role of the parish from the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross.


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