Archbishop of Hamburg
Stefan Heße was born on August 7, 1966, in Cologne. He completed his theological studies in Bonn and Regensburg. He was ordained a priest on June 17, 1993, and incardinated into the clergy of the Archdiocese of Cologne. Subsequently, he served for four years as an associate pastor in Bergheim an der Erft before becoming *Repetent*—or vice-rector—of the Albertinum archiepiscopal residence for seminarians in Bonn. At the same time, he prepared a doctoral thesis in dogmatic theology at the Pallottine College in Vallendar, which he defended in 2001. In 2003, he was appointed to the archiepiscopal Curia of Cologne; from 2006 to 2012, he served as Director of the Department for Pastoral Care and Personnel, while also carrying out pastoral duties in various parishes in Cologne. In 2011, he was named a Canon of the Metropolitan Chapter of Cologne, and a year later, Vicar General—serving first under Cardinal Joachim Meißner and then under his successor, Cardinal Rainer M. Woelki. From March to September 2014, Msgr. Heße served as Diocesan Administrator during the vacancy of the See of Cologne.