Friedrich Wetter

His Eminence Friedrich Wetter
Cardinal, Archbishop Emeritus of Munich and Freising
File:Kardinal Wetter 2008.jpg
Church	Roman Catholic
See	Munich and Freising (emeritus)
Appointed	28 October 1982
Installed	12 December 1982
Term ended	02 February 2007
Predecessor	Joseph Ratzinger
Successor	Reinhard Marx
Other posts	Cardinal Priest Of S. Stephani in Coelio Monte
Orders
Ordination	10 October 1953 by Clemente Micara
Consecration	29 June 1968 by Isidor Markus Emanuel
Created Cardinal	25 May 1985 by John Paul II
Rank	Cardinal-Priest
Personal details
Born	(1928-02-20) 20 February 1928 Landau (Rhineland-Palatinate), Germany
Nationality	German
Motto	Pax Vobis (Peace to you)
Coat of arms	Friedrich Wetter's coat of arms

Styles of Friedrich Wetter
100px
Reference style	His Eminence
Spoken style	Your Eminence
Informal style	Cardinal
See	Munich and Freising (emeritus)

Friedrich Wetter (born 20 February 1928) is a German cardinal of the Catholic Church, the Archbishop Emeritus of Munich and Freising, Germany. His resignation as Metropolitan Archbishop of Munich and Freising was accepted on 2 February 2007 by Pope Benedict XVI, who was Cardinal Wetter's immediate predecessor in that post before going on to become Pope John Paul II's Prefect for the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith and then Pope.

At age 86, Cardinal Wetter is the oldest living cardinal from Germany.

Early life and ordination

Born in Landau (Rhineland-Palatinate), Wetter studied in Landau and then, from 1948 to 1956, at the Sankt Georgen Graduate School of Philosophy and Theology and in the Gregorian University in Rome, where he obtained a doctorate in theology. In 1953, he was ordained a priest in Rome.

After being chaplain for two years (1956–1958) in Speyer, teaching in the seminary in the same city for another two years (1958–1960), and being assistant parish priest for a year in Glanmünchweiler, he became Professor of Fundamental Theology in Eichstätt for five years (1962–1967) and Professor of Dogmatic Theology at the Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz in 1967, a post he held for only one year before being appointed bishop.

Bishop

He was Bishop of Speyer (1968–1982) and became Archbishop of Munich and Freising in 1982.

File:Rittner Friedrich Kardinal Wetter 1998.jpg

Cardinal Wetter,
portrait by Günter Rittner 1998

Cardinal

He was made a Cardinal by Pope John Paul II in 1985, with the title of Cardinal-Priest of Santo Stefano Rotondo. He was one of the cardinal electors who participated in the 2005 papal conclave that selected Pope Benedict XVI.

On 2 February 2007 Pope Benedict accepted his resignation, offered in accordance as with canon 354 of the Code of Canon Law (on the grounds of age). On 30 November 2007, Reinhard Marx, then Bishop of Trier, was named as Wetter's successor.

Views

Rights of Catholic politicians

Cardinal Wetter criticized in 2004 the Italian government's withdrawal of its nomination of Rocco Buttiglione to the European Commission.

Liturgical abuses

Cardinal Friedrich Wetter also said in an open letter in 2004 that anonymous informers intent on reporting liturgical abuses would labour in vain in the Archdiocese of Munich. "Blackening people's names, especially when the talebearer wishes to stay anonymous, will not get anyone anywhere in our archdiocese," Cardinal Wetter warned. His comments followed the promulgation of the Vatican instruction on abuses in the liturgy, Redemptionis Sacramentum.

Catholic Church titles
Preceded by Isidor Markus Emanuel	Bishop of Speyer 1968–1982	Succeeded by Anton Schlembach
Preceded by Joseph Ratzinger	Archbishop of Munich and Freising 1982–2008	Succeeded by Reinhard Marx