Hans-Josef Becker (born 8 June 1948) is a German prelate of the Catholic Church who was the archbishop of Paderborn in Germany from 2003 to 2022.

Life

Hans Josef Becker was born in ,

Warstein Warstein () is a municipality with town status in the district of Soest, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located at the north end of Sauerland. Geography Warstein is located north of the Arnsberger Wald (forest), at a brook called Wä ...

, Germany, on 8 June 1948. He completed his advanced level examination in 1967, in

Rüthen Rüthen () is a town in the district of Soest, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Geography Rüthen is situated at the northeastern border of the natural preserve Arnsberger Wald between the Haarstrang and the valley of the river Möhne, app ...

. Subsequently, he completed a teaching study, which was confirmed with a second state examination in 1972. There after, he studied

theology Theology is the study of religious belief from a Religion, religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an Discipline (academia), academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itse ...

and

philosophy Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

Paderborn Paderborn (; Westphalian language, Westphalian: ''Patterbuorn'', also ''Paterboärn'') is a city in eastern North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, capital of the Paderborn (district), Paderborn district. The name of the city derives from the river Pade ...

and

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

. On 11 June 1977 he was ordained to the priesthood by Archbishop

Johannes Joachim Degenhardt Johannes Joachim Degenhardt (31 January 1926 – 25 July 2002) was the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Paderborn (Germany) from 1974 until his death in 2002. He was named Cardinal in 2001. Life Degenhardt grew up in Hagen, where he attended th ...

. From 1979 to 1995, he worked as a pastor in Paderborn and

Lippstadt Lippstadt () is a town in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is the largest town within the district of Soest. Lippstadt is situated about 60 kilometres east of Dortmund, 40 kilometres south of Bielefeld and 30 kilometres west of Paderborn. Geo ...

. In the following four years, Becker led the Central Department of Pastoral Personnel (''Zentralabteilung Pastorales Personal'') for the Archbishopric of Paderborn. In 1999, he was appointed the

auxiliary bishop An auxiliary bishop is a bishop assigned to assist the diocesan bishop in meeting the pastoral and administrative needs of the diocese. Auxiliary bishops can also be titular bishops of sees that no longer exist as territorial jurisdictions. ...

of Paderborn by

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II (born Karol Józef Wojtyła; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 16 October 1978 until Death and funeral of Pope John Paul II, his death in 2005. In his you ...

. After the death of Archbishop Degenhardt in the year 2002, Becker functioned for about a year as more of a diocesan administrator, before he was appointed as Archbishop of Paderborn on 28 September 2003. Since 2006, Becker has been a chairman of the Commission for Education and Schools in the

Conference of the German Bishops The German Bishops' Conference () is the episcopal conference of the bishops of the Roman Catholic dioceses in Germany. Members include diocesan bishops, coadjutors, auxiliary bishops, and diocesan administrators. History The first meeting of th ...

Pope Francis Pope Francis (born Jorge Mario Bergoglio; 17 December 1936 – 21 April 2025) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 13 March 2013 until Death and funeral of Pope Francis, his death in 2025. He was the fi ...

accepted his resignation on 1 October 2022.

Literature

Sources

Translated from the

German Wikipedia The German Wikipedia () is the German-language edition of Wikipedia, a free and publicly editable online encyclopedia. Founded on 16 March 2001, it is the second-oldest Wikipedia edition (after the English Wikipedia). It has articles, ma ...

(24 March 2007)

External links

Archbishop Hans-Josef Becker
at Catholic-Hierarchy.com *
Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Becker, Hans Josef 1948 births Living people People from Warstein Archbishops of Paderborn 21st-century Roman Catholic archbishops in Germany