A BENEDICTINE BISHOP

Bishop Gregor Maria Hanke was for a long time the only religious in the German Bishops’ Conference. (There are now three.) His diocese of Eichstätt has an ancient Benedictine tradition: it was founded by the Anglo-Saxon Benedictine Willibald. The Abbey of St. Walburga there is a significant place of uninterrupted monastic life. Hanke’s Benedictine identity has always remained very visible, not least because he often wore the monastic habit not only in private but also on many official occasions.

At the beginning of his episcopate, he brought many concerns from his monastery of Plankstetten into the Diocese of Eichstätt, above all a strong ecological orientation. Out of personal interest and in continuation of an older local tradition, he promoted the studies of members of Byzantine Churches at the Collegium Orientale, which flourished anew during his tenure. In doing so, Bishop Hanke carried forward a dimension of ecclesial life that has been entrusted in a special way to the Benedictines for over a hundred years.

For the past five years, Bishop Hanke has also been active within the Benedictine Order on behalf of Maria Laach, first as Apostolic Visitor and most recently as spiritual assistant.

Our monastic tradition also includes a strong sense of autonomy. Bishop Hanke was often among the minority of bishops who did not support the majority decisions of the German Bishops’ Conference.

Very Benedictine, too, was Bishop Hanke’s quiet and thoughtful manner. He is not a loud or forceful man, but one who speaks in measured tones. This has surely not made his episcopal service any easier. His resignation before reaching the canonical retirement age for bishops may perhaps also reflect these circumstances.

He wants to continue to serve as a pastor and, we suspect, also live again more like a monk. We wish him both fruitful ministry and some of the "vacare Deo" that was surely in short supply during his episcopal years.