CNA Staff, Feb 23, 2021 / 12:00 pm
The theologian Beate Gilles was elected general secretary of the German bishops' conference on Monday, becoming the first woman to hold the post.
She succeeds Fr. Hans Langendörfer, S.J., who held the office from 1996 until he stepped down in January.
Bishop Georg Bätzing, the president of the German bishops' conference, welcomed the appointment on Feb. 23.
CNA Deutsch, CNA's German-language news partner, reported that Bätzing described her election as "an important day for the Church in Germany."