The German Bishops’ Conference elected Bishop Heiner Wilmer, SCJ, of Hildesheim as its new chairman. Bishop Wilmer succeeds Bishop Georg Bätzing of Limburg, who has completed a six-year term.
A proponent of changes to Catholic teaching on sexual morality, Bishop Wilmer was once rumored to be under serious consideration for appointment as prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith.