Joachim Meisner

Joachim Meisner (born 25 December 1933 in Wrocław (Breslau), Lower Silesia) is a Cardinal priest and Archbishop of Cologne in the Roman Catholic Church.

Meisner studied at the seminary of Erfurt, earning a doctorate in theology. Ordained a priest in 1962, he pastored in Germany.

Bishop

In 1975, he was elected titular Bishop of Vina and auxiliary Bishop of Erfurt. He was elected as a delegate to the Fourth Synod of Bishops at the Vatican in 1977, where he renewed a friendship with Karol Wojtyła. After Wojtyła was elected Pope John Paul II, he appointed Meisner Bishop of Berlin in 1980, and proclaimed him Cardinal in the consistory of 2 February 1983, with the title Cardinal Priest of "S. Pudenziana".

infobox cardinalstyles
cardinal name=Joachim Meisner
dipstyle=His Eminence
offstyle=Your Eminence
relstyle=Monsignor
See=Cologne
deathstyle=|

In 1988 after the death of Joseph Höffner, Meisner was promoted to the position of Archbishop of Cologne, a post he continues to hold. Cardinal Meisner was the bishop in charge for the XX. World Youth Day in August 2005 in the archdiocese in Cologne that attracted more than one million people. As the leader of Germany's biggest and wealthiest archdiocese, the Cardinal holds a very significant moral and social position, too. Meisner is known for his absolute support to the Pope in Rome and all the Church's teachings. Pope John Paul asked for Cardinal Meisner to see him when he was in the Gemelli Hospital in Rome. Meisner had a very close relationship to Pope John Paul II and is a long time friend of Joseph Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XVI. Meisner regularly travels to the Vatican to meet Benedict in private. He was one of the cardinal electors who participated in the 2005 papal conclave that selected Pope Benedict XVI. He said of Pope Benedict "He [Pope Benedict] has the intelligence of 12 professors and is as pious as a child on the day of his first communion." [http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/christianity/pope/benedictxvi_2.shtml]

Controversy

On September 14, 2007, in a homily at Cologne Cathedral, Meisner branded modern art "entartete Kunst" ("degenerate art") as the church opened its Kolumba art museum. Meisner stated that when art departed from church worship, culture would be degenerate. This ignited a controversy since "Entartete Kunst" was the name of an exhibit by the Nazis in 1937 in Munich. Former minister Michael Vesper was shocked, while the North Rhine-Westphalia culture secretary Hans-Dietrich Grosse-Brockhoff was appalled by Meisner's use of "entartete Kunst". This phrase signifies Nazi punishment of artists, banning of paintings and burning books. [ [http://www.mut-gegen-rechte-gewalt.de/artikel.php?id=91&kat=91&artikelid=3891 Karen Margolis: "Watch their words. Meisner & Herman, the German backwards crusaders"] ] Meisner also opposed the stained-glass window in Cologne Cathedral by Gerhard Richter. [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6996251.stm BBC NEWS, Cardinal in 'Nazi art term' row] ]

In the past, he has made numerous comments that have evoked controversy, leading many to feel he is an extreme conservative figure in the Church. Indeed, Ulrich Harbecke, the former leading religious reporter for Cologne public television, wrote a book on the cardinal and called him "extremely unchristian and heartless." [http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0MKY/is_13_29/ai_n15627705]

Quotation

* "We as Catholic Christians do always have a reason for hope. We shall march with a straight back and head held high, self-confident and sure of victory in our modern times. For we have one God without rival, who revealed himself in Jesus Christ …" (Radio Horeb, 12/12/2004)

External links

* [http://www.catholic-pages.com/hierarchy/cardinals_bio.asp?ref=51 Biography at catholic-pages.com]

References