Dr. Franz-Josef Overbeck studied theology and philosophy at Münster and Rome. He was ordained a priest in 1989. Following his consecration as a bishop in 2007, he was an auxiliary bishop in the Diocese of Münster. In 2009, he was appointed Bishop of Essen. Since 2011, he has also held the post of Catholic military bishop for the German armed forces. In 2014, he became chairman of the commission for societal and social issues of the Episcopal Conference of Germany (Deutsche Bischofskonferenz, DBK); that same year, Pope Francis appointed him to the Pontifical Council for Culture. In March 2018, he was elected Vice-President of the Commission of the Bishops’ Conferences of the European Union (COMECE).

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