Quick Facts
Biography
Hans-Josef Becker (8 June 1948 in Belecke, Warstein, Germany) is the Catholic archbishop of Paderborn, Germany.
Life
Hans Josef Becker completed his advanced level examination in 1967, in Rüthen. Subsequently, he completed a teaching study, which was confirmed with a second state examination in 1972. There after, he studied theology and philosophy in Paderborn and Munich. On 11 June 1977 he was consecrated to the priesthood by Archbishop Johannes Joachim Degenhardt.
From 1979 to 1995, he worked as a pastor in Minden, Paderborn and Lippstadt. In the following four years, Becker led the Central Department of Pastoral Personnel (Zentralabteilung Pastorales Personal) for the Archbishopric of Paderborn. In 1999, he was appointed the auxiliary bishop of Paderborn by Pope John Paul II. After the death of Archbishop Degenhardt in the year 2002, Becker functioned for about a year as more of a diocesan administrator, before he was appointed as Archbishop of Paderborn on 28 September 2003.
Since 2006, Becker has been a chairman of the Commission for Education and Schools in the Conference of the German Bishops.
Literature
- Manfred, Grothe (31 March 2004). Auf dein Wort hin: Amtseinführung von Erzbischof Hans-Josef Becker [On Your Word: The Inauguration of Archbishop Hans-Josef Becker] (in German). Paderborn: Bonifatius GmbH. ISBN 3-89710-281-1.