Georg Sterzinsky

{{Short description|German Roman Catholic Cardinal}} {{Use dmy dates|date=March 2022}} {{Infobox Christian leader | type = Cardinal | honorific-prefix = His Eminence | name = Georg Sterzinsky | honorific-suffix = | title = [[Cardinal (Catholic Church)|Cardinal]], [[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Berlin|Archbishop of Berlin]] | image = Georg Sterzinsky.jpg | image_size = 200px | alt = | caption = | church = [[Roman Catholic]] | archdiocese = [[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Berlin|Berlin]] | province = | metropolis = | diocese = | see = [[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Berlin|Berlin]] | term_start = 9 September 1989 | term_end = 24 February 2011 | predecessor = [[Joachim Meisner]] | successor = [[Rainer Woelki]] | other_post = Cardinal-Priest of San Giuseppe all’Aurelio  | ordination = 29 June 1960 | ordained_by = [[Hugo Aufderbeck]] | consecration = 9 September 1989 | consecrated_by = Joachim Wanke | cardinal = 28 June 1991 | created_cardinal_by = [[John Paul II]] | rank = Cardinal-Priest  | birth_name = | birth_date = {{Birth date|df=yes|1936|02|09}} | birth_place = [[Worławki, Olsztyn County|Warlack]], [[East Prussia]] ''(Present day [[Poland]])'' | death_date = {{Death date and age|df=yes|2011|06|30|1936|02|09}} | death_place = [[Berlin]], [[Germany]] | buried = | nationality = German | religion = | residence = | parents = | spouse =  | children = | occupation = | profession = | previous_post = | alma_mater = | motto = ''Deus Semper Major'' (God Ever Greater) | signature = | signature_alt = | coat_of_arms = Coat of arms of Georg Sterzinsky.svg | coat_of_arms_alt =  | feast_day = | venerated = | saint_title = | beatified_date = | beatified_place = | beatified_by = | canonized_date = | canonized_place = | canonized_by = | attributes = | patronage = | shrine = | suppressed_date =  | other = }} {{infobox cardinalstyles| cardinal name=Georg Sterzinsky| dipstyle=[[His Eminence]]| offstyle=Your Eminence| relstyle=[[Monsignor]]| See=Berlin (emeritus)| deathstyle=|}}

'''Georg Maximilian Sterzinsky''' (9 February 1936 – 30 June 2011<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.morgenpost.de/berlin-aktuell/article1687112/Berliner-Erzbischof-Sterzinsky-gestorben.html|title=Berliner Erzbischof Sterzinsky gestorben|date=30 June 2011|publisher=Berliner Morgenpost|accessdate=2011-07-08|archive-date=31 July 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230731140154/https://www.morgenpost.de/berlin-aktuell/article105030783/Berliner-Erzbischof-Georg-Sterzinsky-gestorben.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>) was a German [[Cardinal (Catholic Church)|cardinal]] of the [[Catholic Church]] who served as [[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Berlin|Archbishop of Berlin]] until 2011.

==Early life== Sterzinsky was born in [[Worławki, Olsztyn County|Warlack]] (earlier also Wurlacken, Warlaucken, now Worławki, Olsztyn County), Landkreis [[Lidzbark Warmiński|Heilsberg]], in German [[East Prussia]]. He lost his mother as a child and his family took refuge in [[Thuringia]], due to the [[Expulsion of Germans after World War II|expulsions]] following the end of [[World War II]]; his homeland of [[Warmia]] is now within [[Poland]].

==Priest and bishop== Sterzinsky was ordained a priest in 1960. After serving as a parish priest for fifteen years, he became Vicar General to the Bishop of [[Erfurt]] in 1981. In 1989, he himself was appointed Bishop of Berlin and, in 1994, he became Archbishop when that see was raised to Archdiocese.

==Cardinal== Sterzinsky was proclaimed [[Cardinal-Priest]] of [[San Giuseppe all'Aurelio]] on 28 June 1991. He was one of the [[Cardinal electors in Papal conclave, 2005|cardinal electors]] who participated in the [[Papal conclave, 2005|2005 papal conclave]] that selected [[Pope Benedict XVI]].

Pope Benedict XVI accepted Cardinal Sterzinsky's retirement as Metropolitan Archbishop of the [[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Berlin|Archdiocese of Berlin]] on 24 February 2011, for reasons of age (he had reached the age limit of 75) and health.

No successor was immediately named for Cardinal Sterzinsky upon his retirement, so the Archdiocese of Berlin was a vacant see ([[sede vacante]]) at the time. Auxiliary Bishop Matthias Heinrich was appointed apostolic administrator until a new archbishop was named.

In April 2011 Cardinal Sterzinsky was transferred to a rehabilitation clinic. In May 2011 it was reported that his condition was very serious after he developed [[pneumonia]] and had to be brought from the rehabilitation centre back to the hospital. Cardinal Sterzinsky died on 30 June. Pope Benedict XVI sent a telegram of condolence to Auxiliary Bishop Heinrich, expressing his closeness to the people of the Archdiocese and praising Sterzinsky's efforts in serving the people of Berlin during the fall of the Berlin Wall and the transition to a united Germany.

On 2 July 2011, two days after the Cardinal's death, Pope Benedict XVI, named [[Rainer Maria Woelki]] as the new Metropolitan Archbishop of Berlin.

==Views== In November 2004, Sterzinsky criticized the notion of "[[gay marriage]]". He argued in a sermon that it could be necessary for Catholics to protest and resist gay marriage laws "''die dem Gesetz Gottes widersprechen''" ("that are contradictory to the laws of God").

==References== {{reflist}}

==External links== {{commons category}} {{wikiquote|Georg Maximilian Sterzinsky}}

*[https://www.vatican.va/news_services/press/documentazione/documents/cardinali_biografie/cardinali_bio_sterzinsky_gm_en.html Bio] from the Vatican *[http://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/bishop/bster.html Profile on ''Catholic Hierarchy'']

{{s-start}} {{s-rel|ca}} {{s-bef|before=[[Joachim Meisner]] 1988}} {{s-ttl|title=[[File:WappenEB-Berlin.jpg|50px]] Bishop, then [[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Berlin|Archbishop of Berlin]]|years=1989–2011}} {{s-aft|after=[[Rainer Maria Woelki]]}} {{s-bef | before=[[Joachim Wanke]]}} {{s-ttl | title=[[Conference of the German Bishops|Chairman of the Berlin Conference of Catholic Bishops]]|years=1989–1990}} {{s-non |rows=1| reason=Title extinct Members of Berlin Conference joined [[German Bishops' Conference]]}} {{s-end}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sterzinsky, Georg}} [[Category:1936 births]] [[Category:2011 deaths]] [[Category:People from Olsztyn County]] [[Category:People from East Prussia]] [[Category:20th-century German cardinals]] [[Category:Roman Catholic bishops of Berlin]] [[Category:Archbishops of Berlin]] [[Category:21st-century German cardinals]] [[Category:Cardinals created by Pope John Paul II]] [[Category:Grand Crosses with Star and Sash of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany]] [[Category:Burials at St. Hedwig's Cathedral]]