German bishop resigns citing ‘inner fatigue,’ ‘synodal way’ doubts

Bishop Hanke questioned the extent to which 'the Church in Germany proving spiritually fruitful.'

A German bishop resigned five years before the typical retirement age Sunday, citing “inner fatigue” and expressing doubts that the country’s “synodal way” will lead to true renewal.

Bishop Gregor Maria Hanke, O.S.B. Screenshot from @bistumeichstaett YouTube channel.

Bishop Gregor Maria Hanke, 70, stood down as the Bishop of Eichstätt in Bavaria, southern Germany June 8, saying he hoped to serve as a pastor, be known as “Fr. Gregor,” and no longer wear episcopal insignia.

Hanke was one of four German diocesan bishops to criticize the country’s controversial synodal way, which called for sweeping changes to Catholic teaching and practice, and to reject plans to establish a national synodal body with extensive powers over the Church in Germany.

Hanke, a Benedictine monk who has led the diocese with more than 350,000 Catholics since 2006, told diocesan employees in a June 8 letter that his decision to resign had a “long history.”

“I am now in my 19th year as Bishop of Eichstätt and, in terms of years of service, rank third among the diocesan bishops of the German bishops’ conference,” wrote Hanke, who became the nation’s youngest bishop when he was appointed to Eichstätt at the age of 52.

“However, I do not want to hide the fact that after the many challenges, scandals, and unresolved conflicts, which were not lacking during my time as bishop, I feel an inner fatigue.”

Hanke, who took a break from his duties due to surgery in 2024, noted that crises during his tenure included a dispute over his decision to block the appointment of a president at the Catholic University of Eichstätt-Ingolstadt, a financial scandal that “caused enormous reputational damage in our diocese,” and clerical abuse cases.

He said he had also been deeply concerned in recent years about “the question of the spiritual fruitfulness of the Church in our country.”

“The Catholic Church in Germany is well-organized with its structures and committees and has many competent employees. Through its social structure, it continues to prove influential; despite the decline in the number of believers, it is a significant social player,” he wrote.

“Given the upheaval and the decline, we are necessarily developing pastoral programs and concepts for the future. But to what extent is our ‘system’ of the Church in Germany proving spiritually fruitful, so that it promotes a new beginning rooted in the power of the lived Gospel and serves the sanctification of the world?”

Hanke said he had been moved by Pope Francis’ 2019 letter to Catholics in Germany.

“The pope provided inspiration for a spiritual path that he advised our Church in Germany to take, rather than one that revolves around itself,” he wrote.

“According to Francis, renewal means living from the freshness of the Gospel. He spoke of the ‘bite’ of the Gospel, which must be felt, and of the primacy of evangelization, which begins with evangelizing oneself so that new life and a genuine spirit inspired by the Gospel can be effective.”

Hanke suggested that Pope Francis’ letter captured “the true heartbeat of the Church,” which Hanke said he had encountered through the priests and lay people of his diocese, and in the liturgy.

“Being close to people as a pastor, talking to them about questions of faith and life, preparing young people to receive the sacraments, and offering spiritual guidance — this is what I would like to achieve in the remaining and, I hope, vigorous years of my life as Fr. Gregor, in ‘the second row’ in a pastoral area outside our diocese, before I later return to my monastic community,” he said.

He added: “Without prejudice to my episcopal ordination, I no longer wish to wear pontificals and insignia, nor perform any pontifical functions, unless my successor occasionally requires support in his episcopal ministry.”

“Otherwise, I see my place in the coming years in pastoral ministry as Fr. Gregor.”

Hanke and the three other diocesan bishops who are skeptical about the synodal way — Cologne’s Cardinal Rainer Maria Woelki, Passau’s Bishop Stefan Oster, and Regensburg’s Rudolf Voderholzer — have faced criticism from lay groups for declining to participate in a future national synodal body.

Meanwhile, a petition addressed to Pope Leo XIV calling for the resignation of Cardinal Woelki, for allegedly mishandling abuse cases, has gained more than 61,000 signatures.

Bishop Georg Bätzing, chairman of the German bishops’ conference, thanked Hanke for often taking “a mediating position” amid disagreements within the German Church.

“Despite all the tensions you recently mentioned again, I would like to thank you for your participation in the synodal way of the Church in Germany,” he said in a June 8 tribute.

“I know that you have found this increasingly difficult, but I would like to mention specifically your active presence at the synodal assemblies.”

Christian Gärtner, the chairman of Eichstätt’s diocesan council, noted that Hanke had long advocated a time limit on bishops’ tenures.

“He understood his episcopal office as a temporary service to the community of believers,” he commented.

“In this respect, his resignation and his intention, as he writes, to work as a pastor, ‘as Fr. Gregor in the second row,’ in the future are consistently supported by the same modesty that always distinguished him in his work as bishop.”

Hanke, whose hobbies include rock climbing, motorcycling, and watching James Bond movies, is one of a handful of European bishops who have retired early in recent years, citing the demands of episcopal ministry among their reasons for stepping down.

Bishop Valerio Lazzeri resigned as the Bishop of Lugano, Switzerland, in 2022, at the age of 59, also saying he suffered from “inner fatigue.”

“Over the years, the public aspects of representation, institutional governance, and financial and administrative management, which have always been far removed from anything that natural inclinations and ministry had previously led me to cultivate, have become untenable for me, despite the presence of good and competent collaborators, to whom all my gratitude goes as of now,” he said.

Also in 2022, Msgr. Ivan Brient initially accepted his nomination as an auxiliary bishop of Rennes, northwestern France, but withdrew before his episcopal ordination due to “burnout.”

It’s rare but not unheard-of for bishops to step down before the standard retirement age to take up a different ministry in the Church.

Bishop Gianfranco Todisco retired as Bishop of Melfi-Rapolla-Venosa, in southern Italy, in 2017, at the age of 71, after asking to return to his previous work as a missionary. Todisco, a member of the Ardorini Missionaries, reportedly moved to the Archdiocese of Tegucigalpa in Honduras.

The appointment of the next Bishop of Eichstätt will be governed by the 1924 Bavarian Concordat.

In Bavaria’s seven Catholic dioceses, bishops and cathedral chapters submit lists of episcopal candidates to the Vatican every three years. When a see falls vacant, the local cathedral chapter prepares a new list of candidates, which is typically sent to the apostolic nuncio for transmission to the Vatican’s Dicastery for Bishops.

The pope freely selects a candidate, usually from the lists. The Bavarian state government has the right to veto the pope’s candidate but rarely exercises this power.