12 Facts About Franz Hengsbach

Franz Hengsbach was a German Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church who served as Bishop of Essen from 1957 to 1991, and was elevated to the cardinalate in 1988.

Franz Hengsbach was born in Velmede to Johann and Theresia Hengsbach; he had five brothers and two sisters.

Franz Hengsbach studied at the Institute of Brilon and the seminaries in Paderborn and Freiburg.

Franz Hengsbach was ordained to the priesthood by Archbishop Kaspar Klein on 13 March 1937, and then served as vicar of Herne-Bukau, St Marien until 1946.

Franz Hengsbach became general secretary of the Akademische Bonifatius-Vereinigung in Paderborn in 1946, and of the Central Committee for the Preparation of German Catholics in 1947.

Franz Hengsbach was made Domestic Prelate of His Holiness in 1952, and secretary general of the Central Committee of German Catholics on 30 April 1952.

On 20 August 1953 Franz Hengsbach was appointed Auxiliary Bishop of Paderborn and Titular Bishop of Cantanus by Pope Pius XI.

Franz Hengsbach was later named the first Bishop of Essen on 18 November 1957.

Franz Hengsbach served as Grand Prior of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem, and was made President of the German Episcopal Commission for Universal Church Affairs in 1976.

Franz Hengsbach was appointed a member of the Council of the European Episcopal Conference in 1977, and resigned from his post in the military ordinariate on 22 May 1978.

Franz Hengsbach lost the right to participate in any future papal conclave upon reaching the age of eighty on 10 September 1990 and, after a period of thirty-three years, resigned as Bishop of Essen on 21 February 1991.

Franz Hengsbach is buried in the crypt of Essen Cathedral.