The election lasted several days and in between the winner even withdrew his application. But now Ernst-Wilhelm Gohl is introduced as regional bishop of the Evangelical regional church in Württemberg. But that also means saying goodbye.
Stuttgart (dpa / lsw) - On Sunday (10.30 a.m.) the Protestant regional church in Württemberg officially introduces Ernst-Wilhelm Gohl to the office of regional bishop. At the same time, his predecessor Frank Otfried July is said goodbye after 17 years at a service in the Stuttgart Collegiate Church followed by a ceremony. Among others, Baden-Württemberg Prime Minister Winfried Kretschmann (Greens), the Catholic bishop of the Rottenburg-Stuttgart diocese, Gebhard Fürst, and Gohl's counterpart on the Baden side, state bishop Heike Springhart, are expected. The SWR wants to broadcast the service live on television and on the Internet.
Representatives of the Württemberg Evangelical Church had elected Ulm Dean Gohl as the new regional bishop in mid-March after lengthy consultations. After several ballots, he was the compromise candidate from a trio of applicants for the various church interest groups. Previously, Gohl had actually withdrawn his application after two rounds of voting.
The 59-year-old leads around 1.87 million Protestants in the regional church. As of New Year's Eve 2021, it lost 2.4 percent of its members compared to the previous year.
