Stefan Heße

Stefan Heße (born 7 August 1966) is a German Catholic prelate who has served as Archbishop of Hamburg since 2015. The youngest diocesan bishop in Germany, he has often been outspoken on social and religious topics.

Biography

Early life and priesthood Heße was born in Cologne, West Germany, on 7 August 1966. Born to a family of bakers, he grew up in the city's Junkersdorf district. He attended George Büchner Gymnasium in Cologne's Weiden district. After graduation in 1986, he studied theology and philosophy at the University of Bonn and University of Regensburg. From 1993 to 1997 he was pastor at St. Remigius Church in the city of Bergheim. From 1997 to 2003 he was a lecturer at the Collegium Albertinum, a seminary in Bonn, while pursuing his doctorate. and Heße was elected diocesan administrator.

On 20 September 2014, Cardinal Rainer Maria Woelki was installed as Archbishop of Cologne. At the ceremony, Heße was reaffirmed as Vicar General.

Archbishop of Hamburg On 26 January 2015, Pope Francis appointed Heße the fourth Archbishop of Hamburg, following the retirement of Archbishop Werner Thissen in March 2014. His episcopal consecration took place on 14 March 2015, with his principal consecrator being Bishop of Osnabrück Franz-Josef Hermann Bode. Co-consecrators were Archbishop of Cologne Cardinal Rainer Woelki and Norbert Werbs, Auxiliary Bishop of Hamburg. At 48, he was Germany's youngest diocesan bishop. The plenary elected Heße as the German bishops' special envoy to the migrant crisis, which placed him in charge of the dioceses' response efforts. Among the resources placed at his disposal were 100 million euros from Catholic dioceses and charities. which were set aside as aid for refugees both in and outside of Germany, and 800 unused church-owned buildings, which were designated as housing for migrants.

In September 2021 Pope Francis rejected his resignation.

Views

Environment and climate change Heße commended Pope Francis' second encyclical, Laudato si', which contains the pontiff's strong criticism for consumerism and irresponsible development and his lament for environmental degradation and global warming. In it, Francis calls for all people of the world to take "swift and unified global action." Heße praised the encyclical, calling it "valuable momentum for a worldwide ecological reorientation." He commented further, saying:He makes it clear that urgent issues of the future for the whole world and for all human beings have to be solved. Without a radical change of mentality this will not happen. Thus he underlines that the problems that concern all, can be solved only by all. In regard to the role of the Archdiocese of Hamburg, Heße said that "we do not have many opportunities for development in this area," but the archdiocese had established an energy fund in 2009 containing eight million euros, five million of which had already been invested at that point. Despite this, he said that he was still hesitant about same-sex marriage.

When asked if he ever wished to marry and have children, Heße responded:I can imagine myself as a father. In all honesty, that was a topic during my studies. That was very clearly a question I had to ask myself. For me it is a comfort that I can also see myself as a husband or father. I would have found it harder if I had told myself, well, you’re unsuited to be a father or husband, so you may as well be a priest.

Personal life Heße is a fan of organ and classical music, and likes to attend concerts in the Laeiszhalle and the Elbe Philharmonic Hall.