Essen, Germany, Nov 7, 2009 / 01:23 am
On October 28, Pope Benedict XVI appointed 45-year-old Franz-Josef Overbeck as the Bishop of Essen, Germany. Bishop Overbeck was ordained a priest by Cardinal Josef Ratzinger, has survived a bout with cancer, and is now the youngest bishop in Germany.
Bishop Overbeck, previously the auxiliary bishop of Münster, told Bild.de, “I was having breakfast in Rome when I received the call that I had been selected to be the next bishop of Essen. I immediately said yes, and then I finished my breakfast.”
When asked if he had any role models, Bishop Overbeck cited his parents, whose faith had quite an influence on him. Overbeck said he also admired Pope Paul VI, who “guided the church through a very difficult political and social phase.”
Describing himself as “a bishop, who has his worries, but loves the Church,” Bishop Overbeck said that some of the most important events in his life have been his ordination as priest and as bishop, as well as his battle with cancer, its treatment, and “the fact that I defeated it.” Asked if he is afraid it will come back, he responded, “I am not a man of fear. I have come to terms with the finiteness of life. If the cancer comes back, then it is a new sickness.”