# Georg Sterzinsky

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German Roman Catholic Cardinal

Georg Sterzinsky Cardinal, Archbishop of Berlin Church Roman Catholic Archdiocese Berlin See Berlin Installed 9 September 1989 Term ended 24 February 2011 Predecessor Joachim Meisner Successor Rainer Woelki Other post Cardinal-Priest of San Giuseppe all’Aurelio Orders Ordination 29 June 1960 by Hugo Aufderbeck Consecration 9 September 1989 by Joachim Wanke Created cardinal 28 June 1991 by John Paul II Rank Cardinal-Priest Personal details Born (1936-02-09)9 February 1936 Warlack, East Prussia (Present day Poland) Died 30 June 2011(2011-06-30) (aged 75) Berlin, Germany Motto Deus Semper Major (God Ever Greater) Coat of arms

Styles of Georg Sterzinsky Reference style His Eminence Spoken style Your Eminence Religious style Monsignor Informal style Cardinal See Berlin (emeritus)

**Georg Maximilian Sterzinsky** (9 February 1936 – 30 June 2011[1]) was a German [cardinal](/source/Cardinal_(Catholic_Church)) of the [Catholic Church](/source/Catholic_Church) who served as [Archbishop of Berlin](/source/Roman_Catholic_Archdiocese_of_Berlin) until 2011.

## Early life

Sterzinsky was born in [Warlack](/source/Wor%C5%82awki%2C_Olsztyn_County) (earlier also Wurlacken, Warlaucken, now Worławki, Olsztyn County), Landkreis [Heilsberg](/source/Lidzbark_Warmi%C5%84ski), in German [East Prussia](/source/East_Prussia). He lost his mother as a child and his family took refuge in [Thuringia](/source/Thuringia), due to the [expulsions](/source/Expulsion_of_Germans_after_World_War_II) following the end of [World War II](/source/World_War_II); his homeland of [Warmia](/source/Warmia) is now within [Poland](/source/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](/source/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](/source/Cardinal-Priest) of [San Giuseppe all'Aurelio](/source/San_Giuseppe_all'Aurelio) on 28 June 1991. He was one of the [cardinal electors](/source/Cardinal_electors_in_Papal_conclave%2C_2005) who participated in the [2005 papal conclave](/source/Papal_conclave%2C_2005) that selected [Pope Benedict XVI](/source/Pope_Benedict_XVI).

Pope Benedict XVI accepted Cardinal Sterzinsky's retirement as Metropolitan Archbishop of the [Archdiocese of Berlin](/source/Roman_Catholic_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](/source/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](/source/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](/source/Rainer_Maria_Woelki) as the new Metropolitan Archbishop of Berlin.

## Views

In November 2004, Sterzinsky criticized the notion of "[gay marriage](/source/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

1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** ["Berliner Erzbischof Sterzinsky gestorben"](https://web.archive.org/web/20230731140154/https://www.morgenpost.de/berlin-aktuell/article105030783/Berliner-Erzbischof-Georg-Sterzinsky-gestorben.html). Berliner Morgenpost. 30 June 2011. Archived from [the original](http://www.morgenpost.de/berlin-aktuell/article1687112/Berliner-Erzbischof-Sterzinsky-gestorben.html) on 31 July 2023. Retrieved 8 July 2011.

## External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to [Georg Sterzinsky](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Georg_Sterzinsky).

Wikiquote has quotations related to ***[Georg Maximilian Sterzinsky](https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Georg_Maximilian_Sterzinsky)***.

- [Bio](https://www.vatican.va/news_services/press/documentazione/documents/cardinali_biografie/cardinali_bio_sterzinsky_gm_en.html) from the Vatican

- [Profile on *Catholic Hierarchy*](http://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/bishop/bster.html)

Catholic Church titles Preceded by Joachim Meisner 1988 Bishop, then Archbishop of Berlin 1989–2011 Succeeded by Rainer Maria Woelki Preceded by Joachim Wanke Chairman of the Berlin Conference of Catholic Bishops 1989–1990 Title extinct Members of Berlin Conference joined German Bishops' Conference

v t e Cardinals created by John Paul II 1979 Casaroli Caprio Cé Righi-Lambertini Căn Civardi Corripio y Ahumada Asajiro Satowaki Etchegaray Ballestrero Ó Fiaich Carter Macharski Rubin Kung Pin-mei 1983 Khoraish Yago Sabattani Kuharić Casoria Lebrún Moratinos Bernardin Kitbunchu do Nascimento López Trujillo Danneels Williams Martini Lustiger Glemp Vaivods Meisner de Lubac 1985 Dadaglio Lourdusamy Arinze Fresno Innocenti Obando y Bravo Mayer Suquía Goicoechea Hamer Vidal Gulbinowicz Tzadua Tomko Lubachivsky Deskur Poupard Vachon Decourtray Castillo Lara Wetter Piovanelli Simonis Gagnon Stickler Law O'Connor Biffi Pavan 1988 Martínez Somalo Silvestrini Felici Grégoire Padiyara Freire Falcão Giordano dos Santos Canestri Javierre Ortas Pimenta Revollo Bravo Clancy Moreira Neves Hickey Szoka Paskai Tumi Groër Martin Hensbach Sladkevičius Margéot Wu 1991 Sodano Todea Laghi Cassidy Coffy Etsou-Nzabi-Bamungwabi López Rodríguez Sanchez Noè Quarracino Angelini Mahony Posadas Ocampo Bevilacqua Saldarini Daly Ruini Korec Schwery Sterzinsky del Mestri Dezza 1994 Sfeir Vlk Poggi Shirayanagi Fagiolo Furno Oviedo Cavada Winning Suárez Rivera Ortega y Calamino Darmaatmadja Schotte Eyt Agustoni Wamala Keeler Vargas Alzamora Turcotte Carles Gordó Maida Puljić Razafindratandra Tụng Sandoval Íñiguez Echeverría Ruiz Świątek Tonini Koliqi Congar Grillmeier 1998 Medina Estévez Bovone Castrillón Hoyos Antonelli Stafford De Giorgi Fernandes de Araújo Rouco Varela Ambrozic Balland Tettamanzi Pengo Schönborn Rivera Carrera George Shan Kuo-hsi Kozłowiecki Cheli Colasuonno Monduzzi Jaworski Pujats 2001 Re Thuận Cacciavillan Sebastiani Grocholewski Saraiva Martins Sepe Mejía Daoud Pompedda Kasper Degenhardt González Zumárraga Dias Majella Agnelo Rubiano Sáenz McCarrick Connell Bačkis Errázuriz Ossa Terrazas Sandoval Napier Rodríguez Maradiaga Agré Billé Velasco Cipriani Thorne Álvarez Martínez Hummes Vithayathil Bergoglio Policarpo Poletto Murphy-O'Connor Egan Huzar Lehmann Ghattas Honoré Tucci Scheffczyk Dulles 2003 Tauran Martino Marchisano Herranz Casado Lozano Barragán Hamao Nicora Scola Okogie Panafieu Zubeir Wako Amigo Vallejo Rigali O'Brien Scheid Antonelli Bertone Turkson Toppo Pell Bozanić Mẫn Quezada Toruño Barbarin Erdő Ouellet Cottier Joos Špidlík Nagy Catholic Church portal

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Georg Sterzinsky](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georg_Sterzinsky) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georg_Sterzinsky?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.