Peter Kohlgraf

Peter Kohlgraf (born March 21, 1967 in Cologne, Germany) is a German Roman Catholic bishop. He is the current Bishop of Mainz.

The Most Reverend Lord

Peter Kohlgraf
Bishop of Mainz
Peter Kohlgraf (2018)
ChurchMainz Cathedral
ProvinceFreiburg im Breisgau
DioceseMainz
Appointed18 April, 2017
PredecessorKarl Lehmann
Orders
Ordination19 June, 1993
by Joachim Meisner
Consecration27 August, 2017
by Karl Lehmann, Rainer Maria Woelki, Stephan Burger
Personal details
Born21 March, 1967
Cologne, Germany
NationalityGerman
DenominationRoman Catholic
MottoAppropinquavit regnum Dei (English: "The kingdom of God has come near you") – Luke 10:09
Coat of arms
Coat of arms of Peter Kohlgraf

Life

Kohlgraf was born the son of a mason and a nurse. After his Abitur in 1986 at the Dreikönigsgymnasium in Cologne, he studied philosophy and catholic theology at the University of Bonn and for one semester in Salzburg. Kohlgraf graduated from university in 1991 and went to the seminary of the Archdiocese of Cologne. On June 19, 1993 he was ordained in Cologne Cathedral by the Archbishop of Cologne, Joachim Kardinal Meisner – together with the later Archbishop of Hamburg Stefan Heße and the later suffragan bishop of Cologne, Dominikus Schwaderlapp. The first positions of Kohlgraf as a priest were in Euskirchen and in Bad Honnef-Rhöndorf, before he became school-chaplain at the Kardinal-Frings-Gymnasium in Bonn-Beuel in 1999.[1] In 2000, he gained his doctorate at Ernst Dassmann at the University of Bonn with the topic The ecclesiology of the Episcopal Letter in the interpretation by John Chrysostom.[2]

Peter Kohlgraf was vice-director at the Collegium Albertinum in Bonn from 2003 to 2009 and then became a school-chaplain again, this time at the Gymnasium Marienberg. In 2010, he qualified for the professorship of religious education at the University of Münster at Udo Schmälzle with the topic Faith in conversation. The search for Christian identity and relevance in Alexandrian fathers theology. A model for practical-theological endeavor today? Kohlgraf was Privatdozent at the Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität in Münster until 2013 and then professor of pastoral theology and practical theology at the catholic university of Mainz. He was living in Partenheim in Rhenish Hesse.

On April 18, 2017, Pope Francis nominated Peter Kohlgraf to be Bishop of Mainz. As his motto, he chose Appropinquavit regnum Dei! – The kingdom of God has come near you! (Mk 1:15 and Lk 10:9) His Consecration in the Mainz Cathedral was conducted by his predecessor Karl Lehmann on August 27, 2017.[3] He is the youngest diocesan bishop in Germany.[1]

Coat of arms

Kohlgraf's episcopal coat of arms incorporates elements such as the wheel from the arms of the Diocese of Mainz, the key and eight golden lozenges from the Diocese of Worms. In the lower silver shield there are three blue waves that symbolize the river Rhine. The Rhine connects Mainz and Worms with Kohlgrafs home town of Cologne. In addition, the river reminds of the history of life-giving and healing through the flowing water of the Christian faith, springing in baptism Ezekiel 47. Behind the crest shield the Golden Episcopal Cross. Above it the green episcopal galero with twelve tassels. Under the coat of arms is the banner of the bishop's motto: Appropinquavit regnum Dei – The kingdom of God is come nigh unto you - which is derived from Luke 10:9.

Positions

In December 2018, Kohlgraf said, there can be in future also married priests in Roman Catholic church.[4]

gollark: The lroem page says "no comments yet".
gollark: I might try implementing RLE to compress URLs even further.
gollark: Amateur.
gollark: Still doesn't make sense.
gollark: Is this some memeemem I don't understand?

References
  1. Lohmann, Gunild (2017-04-18). "Neuer Bischof von Mainz – Vom Lehrer in Beuel zum Bischof" [New bishop of Mainz – From a teacher in Beuel to a bishop]. General-Anzeiger Bonn (in German). Bonn: Bonner Zeitungsdruckerei und Verlagsanstalt H. Neusser GmbH. Retrieved 2017-08-18.
  2. "Professor Dr. Peter Kohlgraf wird neuer Bischof des Bistums Mainz" [Professor Dr. Peter Kohlgraf becomes new bishop of Mainz]. bistummainz.de (in German). Mainz. 2017-04-18. Retrieved 2017-08-18.
  3. "Rinunce e nomine". press.vatican.va (in Italian). Vatican. 2017-04-18. Retrieved 2017-08-18.
  4. katholisch.de: Bischof will gleichzeitig weg von "Priesterzentriertheit"
Catholic Church titles
Preceded by
Karl Kardinal Lehmann		 Bishop of Mainz
Since 2017		 Succeeded by
–
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