Julius Döpfner

infobox cardinalstyles
cardinal name=Julius Cardinal Döpfner
dipstyle=His Eminence
offstyle=Your Eminence
relstyle=Cardinal
deathstyle=not applicable
See=Munich and Freising

Julius August Cardinal Döpfner (August 26, 1913—July 24, 1976) was a German prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as Archbishop of Munich and Freising from 1961 until his death, and was elevated to the cardinalate in 1958.

Biography

Julius Döpfner was born in Hausen to Matthäus and Maria Döpfner. He was baptised two days later, on August 28. Döpfner had a sister, Maria, and two brothers, Paul and Otto. Entering the Augustinian-run "gymnasium" at Münnerstadt in 1924, he later attended the seminary of Würzburg and the Pontifical German-Hungarian College in Rome. Döpfner was ordained to the priesthood by Archbishop Luigi Traglia on October 29, 1939, and then finished his studies at the Pontifical Gregorian University, from where he obtained a doctorate in theology in 1941, writing his dissertation on John Henry Cardinal Newman. He worked as a chaplain in Großwallstadt until 1944.

On August 11, 1948, Döpfner was appointed Bishop of Würzburg by Pope Pius XII. He received his episcopal consecration on the following October 14 from Archbishop Joseph Kolb, with Bishops Joseph Schröffer and Arthur Landgraf serving as co-consecrators. At age 35, Döpfner was the youngest bishop in the Church at that time [Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church. [http://www.fiu.edu/~mirandas/bios-d.htm#Dopfner Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church: DÖPFNER, Julius] ] .

He was named Bishop of Berlin on January 15, 1957, and became the youngest member of the College of Cardinals when he was created Cardinal Priest of "S. Maria della Scala" by Pope John XXIII in the consistory of December 15, 1958. Promoted to Archbishop of Munich and Freising on July 3, 1961, Döpfner participated in the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965), and sat on its Board of Presidency. Along with Raúl Cardinal Silva Henríquez, he assisted Léon-Etienne Cardinal Duval in delivering one of the closing messages of the Council on December 8, 1965 [Christus Rex. [http://www.christusrex.org/www1/CDHN/v19.html To Women] ] .

The Cardinal, who was considered liberal in his positions [Time Magazine. [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,829210-9,00.html Council of Renewal] October 5, 1962] [Time Magazine. [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,841458-8,00.html Catholic Freedom v. Authority] November 22, 1968] [Time Magazine. [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,874608,00.html The Loyal Opposition] November 2, 1962] , criticised the Church for its "antiquated forms" and for "resisting ideas, forms and possibilities to which perhaps the future belongs, and we often consider as impossible that which will finally manifest itself as a legitimate form of Christianity" [Time Magazine. [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,870689,00.html The Unfinished Reformation] February 7, 1964] . He was deeply involved with the question of birth control [Time Magazine. [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,899163,00.html Lex Dubia Non Obligat] April 22, 1966] [Time Magazine. [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,900219,00.html Birth Control: Pronouncement Withdrawn] June 21, 1968] , and supported ecumenism [Time Magazine. [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,870689,00.html The Unfinished Reformation] February 7, 1964] . The German prelate was one of the cardinal electors in the 1963 papal conclave, which selected Pope Paul VI.

From 1965 to 1976, Döpfner was Chairman of the Conference of the German Bishops and thus the spokesman of the Catholic Church in Germany. He was often described as "papabile", but he died at 8:00 a.m. in the archiepiscopal residence of Munich, at age 62.

Trivia

*In 1959, Cardinal Döpfner, along with three other German clerics, climbed Mont Blanc, which (at 4,808 m) is the highest mountain in Western Europe [Time Magazine. [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,825905,00.html] September 7, 1959] .
*The influential Jesuit Karl Rahner once served Döpfner as his personal theologian [Time Magazine. [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,872963,00.html A Holy Boldness] December 14, 1962] .

References

External links

* [http://www.fiu.edu/~mirandas/bios-d.htm#Dopfner Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church profile]
* [http://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/bishop/bdopfner.html Catholic-Hierarchy profile]

###@@@KEY@@@###succession box | before=Matthias Ehrenfried | title=Bishop of Würzburg | years=1948-1957| after=Josef Stangl succession box | before=Wilhelm Weskamm | title=Bishop of Berlin | years=1957-1961| after=Alfred Bengsch succession box | before=Joseph Wendel | title=Archbishop of Munich and Freising | years=1961-1976| after=Joseph Ratzinger