Gerhard Ludwig Müller has served as the Bishop of Regensburg since his appointment by Pope John Paul II

Pope John Paul II

Blessed Pope John Paul II , born Karol Józef Wojtyła , reigned as Pope of the Catholic Church and Sovereign of Vatican City from 16 October 1978 until his death on 2 April 2005, at of age. His was the second-longest documented pontificate, which lasted ; only Pope Pius IX ...

 on 1 October 2002.

Early life

Müller was born in Finthen, a borough of Mainz

Mainz

Mainz under the Holy Roman Empire, and previously was a Roman fort city which commanded the west bank of the Rhine and formed part of the northernmost frontier of the Roman Empire...

. After graduating from the Willigis Episcopal High School in Mainz, Müller studied philosophy and theology in Mainz

Mainz

Mainz under the Holy Roman Empire, and previously was a Roman fort city which commanded the west bank of the Rhine and formed part of the northernmost frontier of the Roman Empire...

, Munich

Munich

Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...

, and Freiburg

Freiburg

Freiburg im Breisgau is a city in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. In the extreme south-west of the country, it straddles the Dreisam river, at the foot of the Schlossberg. Historically, the city has acted as the hub of the Breisgau region on the western edge of the Black Forest in the Upper Rhine Plain...

. In 1977 he received his Doctor of Divinity under Karl Lehmann for his thesis on the Protestant theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Dietrich Bonhoeffer was a German Lutheran pastor, theologian and martyr. He was a participant in the German resistance movement against Nazism and a founding member of the Confessing Church. He was involved in plans by members of the Abwehr to assassinate Adolf Hitler...

.

Priestly ministry

He was ordained a priest for the diocese of Mainz on 11 February 1978 just after his 30th birthday by Cardinal Hermann Volk

Hermann Volk

Hermann Volk was a German Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as Bishop of Mainz from 1962 to 1982, and was elevated to the cardinalate in 1973.-Early life and ministry:...

. After his ordination, he worked as a chaplain in three parishes.

In 1986 Müller received a call from the chair in dogmatic theology

Dogmatic theology

Dogmatic theology is that part of theology dealing with the theoretical truths of faith concerning God and his works, especially the official theology recognized by an organized Church body, such as the Roman Catholic Church, Dutch Reformed Church, etc...

 at the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, where he is still an honorary professor.

Episcopate

Pope John Paul II

Pope John Paul II

Blessed Pope John Paul II , born Karol Józef Wojtyła , reigned as Pope of the Catholic Church and Sovereign of Vatican City from 16 October 1978 until his death on 2 April 2005, at of age. His was the second-longest documented pontificate, which lasted ; only Pope Pius IX ...

 on 1 October 2002 appointed him bishop of Regensburg. He was ordained on 24 November 2002 with Cardinal Friedrich Wetter serving as principal consecrator. Among the co-consecrators were Cardinal Karl Lehmann, Bishop Vinzenz Guggenberger, and Bishop Emeritus of Regensburg

Regensburg

Regensburg is a city in Bavaria, Germany, located at the confluence of the Danube and Regen rivers, at the northernmost bend in the Danube. To the east lies the Bavarian Forest. Regensburg is the capital of the Bavarian administrative region Upper Palatinate...

 Manfred Müller. For his episcopal motto, Müller chose "Dominus Iesus" (Jesus is Lord, Romans 10:9).

On 20 December 2007, Müller was reappointed for another five years a member of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith

Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith

The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith , previously known as the Supreme Sacred Congregation of the Roman and Universal Inquisition , and after 1904 called the Supreme...

 and on 17 January 2009 he became also a member of the Pontifical Council for Culture

Pontifical Council for Culture

The Pontifical Council for Culture is a department of the Roman Curia charged with fostering the relationship of the Catholic Church with different cultures. Pope John Paul II founded it on 20 May 1982...

. In Germany, Muller has a reputation as a defender of Catholic Orthodoxy.

In the German Bishops' Conference, Müller is Chairman of the Ecumenical Commission, Deputy Chairman of the Commission and member of Faith World Church of the Commission. He is also vice-chairman of the Association of Christian Churches in Germany and first president of the Society for the Promotion of Eastern Church Institute in Regensburg.

As a personal friend of Pope Benedict XVI

Pope Benedict XVI

Benedict XVI is the 265th and current Pope, by virtue of his office of Bishop of Rome, the Sovereign of the Vatican City State and the leader of the Catholic Church as well as the other 22 sui iuris Eastern Catholic Churches in full communion with the Holy See...

, he has been charged with preparing the publication of the “Opera Omnia”: a series of books that will collect, in a single edition, all the writings of the current Pope. Muller himself has was written more than 400 works on dogmatic theology, ecumenism, revelation, hermeneutics, the priesthood and the diaconate.

Muller was also a pupil of Gustavo Gutiérrez

Gustavo Gutiérrez

Gustavo Gutiérrez Merino, O.P., is a Peruvian theologian and Dominican priest regarded as the founder of Liberation Theology...

, the “father” of Latin-American liberation theology

Liberation theology

Liberation theology is a Christian movement in political theology which interprets the teachings of Jesus Christ in terms of a liberation from unjust economic, political, or social conditions...

, with whom he has a long and close friendship. Commenting on Guitierrez, Muller stated: "The theology of Gustavo Gutiérrez, independently of how you look at it, is orthodox because it is orthopractic and it teaches us the correct way of acting in a Christian fashion since it comes from true faith." It is important to note that Gutiérrez’s thoughts were never censored by the Holy See although it was asked that he modify a few of his writings.

Awards and honours

While a professor, Müller was awarded the Grand Cross of Merit of the branch of the Sacred Military Constantinian Order of Saint George]] headed by Infante Carlos, Duke of Calabria

Infante Carlos, Duke of Calabria

Infante Carlos of Spain, Prince of the Two Sicilies, Duke of Calabria, KOGF, KGCHS is the son of Don Alfonso of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, Duke of Calabria and Princess Alicia of Bourbon-Parma .-Biography:Infante Carlos is one of two claimants of the dignity of...

.

In September 2004, the Catholic University of Lublin awarded Müller an honorary doctorate, in recognition of his outstanding scientific and didactic activities. And on 24 September 2008 the Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú awarded him another honorary doctorate in view of his scientific work.

The Bavarian Prime Minister Horst Seehofer

Horst Seehofer

Horst Lorenz Seehofer is a German politician . He was Federal Minister for Health and Social Security from 1992 to 1998 and served as Federal Minister of Food, Agriculture and Consumer Protection in the cabinet of Angela Merkel from 2005 to 2008...

 gave him on 28 May 2009, the Federal Cross of Merit (First Class).

Peter Kramer controversy

In September 2007, there were public allegations against Müller by the Neue Presse of Passau

Passau

Passau is a town in Lower Bavaria, Germany. It is also known as the Dreiflüssestadt or "City of Three Rivers," because the Danube is joined at Passau by the Inn from the south and the Ilz from the north....

 concerning his handling of the Peter Kramer sex abuse scandal

Peter Kramer (priest)

Peter Kramer is a German Catholic priest who sexually abused children in the diocese of Regensburg.-Early life and ordination:Kramer was previously an auto mechanic, and he received a late ordination in 1997...

.

Position on clerical celibacy

In response to controversial reactions to comments by Archbishop Robert Zollitsch

Robert Zollitsch

Robert Zollitsch is a German prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He currently serves as Archbishop of Freiburg im Breisgau and Chairman of the German Episcopal Conference.-Life and work:...

 of Freiburg that, while clerical celibacy

Clerical celibacy

Clerical celibacy is the discipline by which some or all members of the clergy in certain religions are required to be unmarried. Since these religions consider deliberate sexual thoughts, feelings, and behavior outside of marriage to be sinful, clerical celibacy also requires abstension from these...

 is a gift but not theologically necessary, but that it would be a "revolution" if the celibacy tradition within the Latin Rite Catholic Church were abandoned, Müller said: "The Second Vatican Council

Second Vatican Council

The Second Vatican Council addressed relations between the Roman Catholic Church and the modern world. It was the twenty-first Ecumenical Council of the Catholic Church and the second to be held at St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican. It opened under Pope John XXIII on 11 October 1962 and closed...

 made clear in Article 16 of the "Decree on the Ministry and Life of Priests" what the decisive requirements are," Müller said.