Archbishop of Bamberg
Archbishop-elect Herwig Gössl was born on 22 February 1967 in Munich. He carried out his philosophical and theological studies at the Universities of Bamberg and Innsbruck. He was ordained a priest on 26 June 1993, and incardinated in the archdiocese of Bamberg. He has held the following roles: pastoral service in various parishes in Bayreuth, Hannberg and Weisendorf; parish priest of the pastoral grouping of Erlangen Nord-West; vice rector of the major seminary of Bamberg and member of the diocesan liturgical commission; vice rector of the seminary of Würzburg and head of vocational pastoral care. On 24 January 2014 he was elected titular bishop of Balecium and auxiliary of the archdiocese of Bamberg, receiving episcopal consecration the following 15 March. He was then appointed episcopal vicar for Caritas and provost of the Cathedral Chapter of Bamberg. He has also served as director of the Pastoral Section of the Archepiscopal Curia and diocesan administrator of the archdiocese of Bamberg. Within the German Bishops’ Conference, he is deputy chair of the Commission for charitable matters and a member of the Commission for Marriage and the Family.