Stress of office taking toll on many European bishops

This month, Pope Leo XIV accepted the resignation of Bishop Karl-Heinz Wiesemann, 66, of Speyer, in southwestern Germany.

The Vatican gave no reason for the Pope’s decision to accept the resignation nine years before Bishop Wiesemann turned 75, the standard age at which diocesan bishops submit their resignation to the Pope. German Catholic media described the move as a surprise.

But in a candid letter to Catholics in Speyer – one of Germany’s oldest dioceses – Bishop Wiesemann recalled that he had struggled for years with depression and said he felt unable to continue serving at “half strength”.

In February 2021, the bishop entered a clinic for treatment for what doctors diagnosed as a “recurrent depressive disorder”. He took a seven-month break from active ministry that included two months at the clinic.

His resignation comes a year after Bishop Gregor Maria Hanke stepped down as the Bishop of Eichstätt in Bavaria, southern Germany, at the age of 70.

Bishop Hanke said in June 2025 that he had asked to retire five years before the customary resignation age because of “inner fatigue” caused by “the many challenges, scandals and unresolved conflicts” that marked his term in office.

Bishop Wiesemann is one of a handful of European bishops in recent years who have retired early while pointing to the gruelling nature of episcopal ministry.

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

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”.

Other German diocesan bishops, such as Cardinal Reinhard Marx of Munich and Freising and Archbishop Stefan Hesse of Hamburg, sought to retire early, but were asked to remain in office.

FULL STORY

German bishop is latest to step down early over ‘psychological strain’ (By Luke Coppen/The Pillar)