Gregor Maria Hanke OSB (born 2 July 1954 as Franz Maria Hanke) is a German prelate of the Catholic Church who has been the bishop of

Eichstätt Eichstätt () is a town in the federal state of Bavaria, Germany, and capital of the district of Eichstätt. It is located on the Altmühl river and has a population of around 13,000. Eichstätt is also the seat of the Roman Catholic Dioce ...

since 2006. A member of the Benedictines, he was abbot of

Plankstetten Abbey Plankstetten Abbey (Kloster Plankstetten) is a monastery of the Benedictines located between Berching and Beilngries in Bavaria, Germany. It is a member of the Bavarian Congregation of the Benedictine Confederation. First foundation The monaster ...

from 1993 to 2006.

Early life

Franz Hanke, a teacher, and his wife Elisabeth lived in the Troppau district in the

Sudetenland The Sudetenland ( , ; Czech and sk, Sudety) is the historical German name for the northern, southern, and western areas of former Czechoslovakia which were inhabited primarily by Sudeten Germans. These German speakers had predominated in the ...

until 1946 when they were expelled and settled in Middle Franconia with their three sons and two daughters. Their last child, Franz Maria Hanke, was born on 2 July 1954 in Elbersroth. Two of his elder brothers became priests. He graduated from the Willibald-Gymnasium in Eichstätt in 1974 and then entered the diocesan seminary, studying in London for the academic year 1976/77. He earned a diploma in theology at the

Catholic University of Eichstätt The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

in 1980, and next taught religion for the year 1980/81 at a vocational school in

Roth Roth may refer to: Places Germany * Roth (district), in Bavaria, Germany ** Roth, Bavaria, capital of that district ** Roth (electoral district), a federal electoral district * Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany: ** Roth an der Our, in the district ...

. In 1981 he entered the Benedictine Abbey of Plankstetten and received the religious name Gregor Maria after

Gregory of Nyssa Gregory of Nyssa, also known as Gregory Nyssen ( grc-gre, Γρηγόριος Νύσσης; c. 335 – c. 395), was Bishop of Nyssa in Cappadocia from 372 to 376 and from 378 until his death in 395. He is venerated as a saint in Catholi ...

. He took his final vows as a Benedictine on 10 October 1982 He studied English in Eichstätt for the next year, was ordained a priest on 10 September 1983 by Bishop Alois Brems, and then studied English at Oxford from 1983 to 1985. He then returned to his abbey and managed guest services and the education center for five years. He spent the year 1990/91 at the

Pontifical Oriental Institute The Pontifical Oriental Institute, also known as the Orientale, is a Catholic institution of higher education located in Rome and focusing on Eastern Christianity. The plan of creating a school of higher learning for Eastern Christianity had been ...

in Rome. On 13 July 1993, Hanke was elected abbot of Plankstetten Abbey; he took office on 2 October 1993. In 2002 he obtained his doctorate from the School of Philosophy and Theology Sankt Georgen in

Frankfurt am Main Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian dialects, Hessian: , "Franks, Frank ford (crossing), ford on the Main (river), Main"), is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as o ...

. His doctoral thesis examined the liturgy of the hours in the liturgy of

Hagia Sophia Hagia Sophia ( 'Holy Wisdom'; ; ; ), officially the Hagia Sophia Grand Mosque ( tr, Ayasofya-i Kebir Cami-i Şerifi), is a mosque and major cultural and historical site in Istanbul, Turkey. The cathedral was originally built as a Greek Ortho ...

in Constantinople.

Bishop

Pope Benedict XVI Pope Benedict XVI ( la, Benedictus XVI; it, Benedetto XVI; german: link=no, Benedikt XVI.; born Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger, , on 16 April 1927) is a retired prelate of the Catholic church who served as the head of the Church and the sovereign ...

appointed him bishop of Eichstätt on 14 October 2006. On 2 December he received his episcopal consecration from

Ludwig Schick Ludwig Schick (born 22 September 1949) is a prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as archbishop of Bamberg from 2002 to 2022. He was auxiliary bishop of Fulda from 1998 to 2002. Life Born in Marburg, Schick was ordained to the pr ...

, archbishop of Bamberg, and was installed. As Bishop of Eichstätt, Hanke was ''ex officio'' Grand Chancellor and Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Catholic University of Eichstätt-Ingolstadt. After several years of conflict with its leadership, the crisis was resolved by ending Hanke's role and, as of October 2010, assigning those roles to the head of the Freising Bishops Conference. Hanke took part in the Synod of Bishops from 5 to 26 October 2008 in Rome as one of three delegates of the German Bishops Conference. The German-speaking working group chose him as their moderator. Pope Benedict XVI also named him to the Middle East Synod from 10 to 24 October 2010. He is a member of the Commission for Spiritual Professions and Church Services and the Commission for Marriage and Family of the German Bishops Conference, as well as Chairman of the Board of Directors and the Association Committee of the Association of German Diocese. On 29 March 2014,

Pope Francis Pope Francis ( la, Franciscus; it, Francesco; es, link=, Francisco; born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, 17 December 1936) is the head of the Catholic Church. He has been the bishop of Rome and sovereign of the Vatican City State since 13 March 2013. ...

named him a member of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and for Societies of Apostolic Life.

Selected writings

* ''Der Odenkanon des Tagzeitenritus Konstantinopels im Licht der Beiträge H. Schneiders und O. Strunks – eine Relecture''; in: Hans-Jürgen Feulner, Elena Velkovska, Robert F. Taft S.J. (ed.): ''Crossroad of Cultures. Studies in Liturgy and Patristics in Honor of Gabriele Winkler''; Orientalia Christiana Analecta, 260; Pont. Ist. Orient, Rome, 2000; p. 345–367. * ''Vesper und Orthros des Kathedralritus der Hagia Sophia zu Konstantinopel: eine strukturanalytische und entwicklungsgeschichtliche Untersuchung unter besonderer Berücksichtigung der Psalmodie und der Formulare in den Euchologien'' (Jerusalemer Theologisches Forum 21,1–2), Aschendorff, Münster 2018, * ''Projekt Netzwerk Umwelt: Erarbeitung und Präsentation einer Umweltausstellung zum Thema „Glauben und Handeln“ in der Benediktinerabtei Plankstetten''; Berching, 2004. * ''Achtsam-Genügsam-Nachhaltig: Benedikt und Ökologie''; in: Notker Wolf (ed.): ''Die Botschaft Benedikts''; Münsterschwarzach, 2008.

Notes

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hanke, Gregor Maria Franz Living people 1954 births 21st-century German Roman Catholic bishops 21st-century Roman Catholic bishops in Germany Roman Catholic bishops of Eichstätt German Benedictines Benedictine bishops