
A Palatine in Westphalia: Udo Bentz becomes Archbishop of Paderborn
Paderborn/Mainz - A Palatine in Paderborn? "I hope it goes well!" were some of the first words spoken by the newly appointed Archbishop of Paderborn. His speech and the initial reactions of the faithful clearly point in an optimistic direction. A portrait.
Published on 09.12.2023 at 17:19 – by Norbert Demuth und Roland Juchem (KNA)At his presentation in Paderborn Cathedral on Saturday as the newly appointed archbishop for the Westphalian archdiocese, Udo Bentz made a good impression. At least that was the impression of diocese employees as well as the many hundreds of people in the packed cathedral. "Palatine people can talk to people", he said of himself and immediately sought to prove this - with charm, humour, but also thoughtful and serious sentences.
His gratitude for the trust placed in him by the cathedral chapter, which had chosen him from a list of three from the Pope, was clearly remarkable. He also thanked the 14 men and women with whom the cathedral chapter had consulted in the search for suitable candidates. This was a much-noticed new step taken by the archdiocese a year ago following the resignation of Hans-Josef Becker.
Formative time as secretary to Cardinal Lehmann
In the struggle for the Synodal Path reform process in the Church, 56-year-old Bentz has repeatedly emphasised the importance of constant dialogue. "We must walk our paths in such a way that we remain together," he said after the German bishops' visit to the Vatican at the end of 2022, for example. Although different points of view became clear, "deficits in mediating" and "deficits in listening" were also evident.
Born on 3 March 1967 in the small Palatinate community of Rülzheim in the district of Germersheim, Bentz completed an apprenticeship as a bank clerk after leaving school before studying philosophy and theology in Mainz and Innsbruck from 1988. He was ordained a deacon in 1994 and a priest in 1995.
This was followed by a formative period: in 1998, Bentz became secretary to the long-serving Bishop of Mainz, Karl Lehmann, who died in 2018. Bentz was thus a confidant of Lehmann, who was Chairman of the German Bishops' Conference from 1987 to 2008 and appointed Cardinal by Pope John Paul II in 2001, during important times in church politics.

Travelling in Palestine on behalf of the German Bishops' Conference: Udo Bentz at the Gaza Strip border stone.
Bentz was head of the Mainz seminary from 2007 before becoming an auxiliary bishop in September 2015. Two years later, the new Bishop of Mainz, Peter Kohlgraf, gave him an additional task immediately after his own inauguration: in August 2017, he appointed him Vicar General and thus head of administration for the diocese.
Like Kohlgraf, Bentz was open to structural changes, including in the church leadership. In April 2022, theologian Stephanie Rieth took up a new position in the diocese of Mainz as "authorised representative of the vicar general". Rieth can not only represent the Vicar General in all matters both internally and externally, but can also fulfil the Vicar General's duties in his place. Bentz explained that it is "not just a matter of changing management structures within the framework of canon law". There also needs to be a cultural change in the question of leadership authority so that the church can fulfil its task more credibly. This puts him pretty much in line with Pope Francis.
Spiritual home with Ignatius of Loyola
He also seems to have many other things in common with the head of the Church. During his introduction, he confessed that Ignatius of Loyola, the founder of the Jesuit order, was his spiritual home. For him, Ignatius' key question for the Church today is: "What must I leave behind in order to serve the Lord, the Gospel, more and better?". It is not possible to live spiritually by ignoring reality, including its dark sides.
In March 2023, following the presentation of the abuse study for the diocese of Mainz, which he had been instrumental in initiating, Bentz distanced himself from Lehmann, who had ordained him bishop. Bentz said at the time that reading the study had shaken him up. Many things were difficult to bear, such as "the gap between public speech and internal actions". Many people had told him that Lehmann's image had been shattered. "I feel the same way," said Bentz.
At the level of the German Bishops' Conference, Bentz is Chairman of the Middle East Working Group - a task with a particularly strong current relevance. In recent years, he has travelled several times to the region, which is currently being shaken by the war between Israel and Hamas. Community in the diocese and worldwide is one of his main concerns, Bentz said on Saturday. He will be inaugurated as the new Archbishop of Paderborn on 10 March.
AI-International
English.katholisch.de provides selected news and topics from katholisch.de translated into English with the help of artificial intelligence (AI) implemented as an additional online service into the editorial system of katholisch.de. This way the majority of the daily news produced by the journalists on the editorial team of katholisch.de are now available for more readers around the globe.