AC Wimmer

AC Wimmer

AC Wimmer is founding Editor-in-Chief of CNA Deutsch. The multilingual Australian, raised in Bavaria and South Africa, held senior roles at Australia's SBS and served as editor-in-chief of the historic Münchner Kirchenzeitung. A graduate in Philosophy and Chinese Studies from the University of Melbourne, Anian Christoph Wimmer — Chinese name 刘威猛 — sat on the jury of the Media Award of the German Bishops’ Conference, is a former Honorary Research Fellow in Communications at the University of Melbourne and served on the Board of Caritas in Munich.

Articles by AC Wimmer

Father Martin Lintner, OSM, teaches at the Philosophical-Theological College in Brixen (PTH Brixen). Screenshot of Cultural Center Gustav Mahler & Guesthouse YouTube video

Rejected dean: Vatican veto questions synodality

Jul 3, 2023 / 09:27 am

The professor rejected by the Vatican for the role of dean at a seminary in South Tyrol, Italy, has publicly denounced the decision. 

The Catholic Cathedral of Limburg in Hesse, Germany. Mylius via Wikimedia (GFDL 1.2).

German exodus: Half a million Catholics abandon Church in historic departure

Jun 28, 2023 / 08:22 am

With the highest number of departures ever recorded, several German bishops have expressed dismay over the figures.

Philosophical-Theological University of Bressanone in Italy. Credit: Ladislav Luppa / Wikimedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Views on sexual morality halt appointment of new dean at Italian seminary

Jun 27, 2023 / 09:30 am

The writings of Father Martin M. Lintner, OSM, have stirred controversy within Church circles.

Cardinal Rainer Maria Woelki of Cologne. Credit: www.ewtn.de. null

German cardinal under investigation: Allegations of perjury prompt search of archdiocese

Jun 27, 2023 / 06:42 am

The allegations revolve around the accusation that Cardinal Rainer Maria Woelki may have provided false testimony about his awareness of clergy abuse.

Bishop Gebhard Fürst blesses the bell from St. Albertus Magnus in Oberesslingen in front of the church in Żegoty (Siegfriedswalde), Germany, which has now returned to its homeland of Poland. Credit: Diocese of Rottenburg-Stuttgart/Arkadius Guzy

Ringing in a new era: the historic return of Nazi-plundered bells to Poland

Jun 26, 2023 / 10:00 am

Over the weekend, a German bishop and a state premier participated in an initiative to bring bells stolen by the Nazis to their rightful homes in Poland.

Pope Benedict XVI at the World Family Meeting in Milan with Cardinal Angelo Scola on June 4, 2012. Credit: CNA/World Meeting of Families 2012

Pectoral cross of Benedict XVI stolen from Bavarian church

Jun 20, 2023 / 12:30 pm

A pectoral cross bequeathed by the late Pope Benedict XVI to a parish in his native Bavaria has been stolen from the church where it was on display.

The third Synodal Assembly of the ‘Synodal Way’ in Frankfurt, Germany, on Feb. 4, 2022. Max von Lachner/Synodal Way.

Four German bishops block funding for permanent synodal council 

Jun 20, 2023 / 07:00 am

In a statement, the bishops said the controversial initiative goes against “the clear instruction of the pope” and would cause “even greater polarization.”

St. Hedwig's Cathedral in Berlin, Germany. Cedric BLN via Wikimedia (Public domain).

German Synodal Council challenged ahead of key Berlin meeting

Jun 19, 2023 / 16:40 pm

A prelate in the Diocese of Regensburg said the concept of synodality underlying the Synodal Way isn’t in line with canon law or the Pope Francis’ ideas.

Archbishop Georg Gänswein Daniel Ibáñez/CNA.

Vatican: Gänswein to return to home diocese in July

Jun 15, 2023 / 04:31 am

Pope Francis has asked Archbishop Georg Gänswein to return to Germany “for the time being.”

Archbishop Georg Gänswein was the personal secretary of the late Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI. Credit: ACI Press

Report: Gänswein ordered to leave Vatican, return to home diocese without new role

Jun 2, 2023 / 06:34 am

According to a German media report, Pope Francis is following a custom where former private secretaries of deceased popes do not remain in Rome.

Heidi Crowter speaks outside the High Court in London England, July 6, 2021. Don’t Screen Us Out via Flickr (CC BY-ND 2.0).

Woman with Down syndrome sues over abortion law at European Court of Human Rights

May 20, 2023 / 06:00 am

Heidi Crowter announced her decision to appeal to the ECHR this week after England’s Supreme Court refused to hear her case.

Archbishop Arthur Roche at a Vatican press conference on Feb. 10, 2015. Bohumil Petrik/CNA.

Vatican’s liturgy czar rejects German Church’s plans for laity to preach homilies, conduct baptisms

Mar 30, 2023 / 13:30 pm

Cardinal Arthur Roche also said allowing laypeople to regularly perform baptisms goes against canon law.

Bishop Franz-Josef Bode of the Diocese of Osnabrück served as vice president of the German bishops' conference from 2017 to 2023. Courtesy of Synodaler Weg/Maximilian von Lachner

Pope Francis accepts resignation of vice president of German bishops’ conference 

Mar 25, 2023 / 08:56 am

Bishop Franz-Josef Bode had previously refused to step down despite an abuse report finding he had mishandled cases in his diocese. 

The Frauenkirche, the cathedral of the Archdiocese of Munich and Freising. Diliff via Wikimedia (CC BY 2.5)

Prosecutors drop case of alleged ‘cover up’ against Benedict XVI

Mar 22, 2023 / 16:30 pm

A potential legal case against Pope Benedict XVI over his handling of abuse during his time as archbishop of Munich has been dropped.

null Daniel Ibáñez/CNA.

Gänswein to Costa Rica? Report of Benedict’s secretary becoming nuncio is ‘speculation,’ Vatican sources say

Mar 22, 2023 / 08:36 am

The future role of Archbishop Georg Gänswein, Benedict XVI’s longtime private secretary, remains unclear.

Delegates at the fifth assembly of the German Synodal Way, meeting in Frankfurt, Germany, on March 11, 2023, applaud after the he passage of a text calling for changes to the German Church's approach to gender identity. Jonathan Liedl/National Catholic Register

German bishops announce plans to bless same-sex unions, allow laypeople to baptize and preach at Mass

Mar 17, 2023 / 08:53 am

Following the conclusion of the German Synodal Way, several bishops have announced plans to put into practice resolutions passed by the process. 

Bishop Georg Bätzing at the closing press conference of the spring plenary meeting of the German bishops’ conference. Martin Rothweiler/EWTN.TV.

Despite ‘no’ from Vatican, German bishops move forward with plans for Synodal Council

Mar 1, 2023 / 14:45 pm

A letter by the president of the German Bishops’ Conference published Wednesday confirms that plans for a German synodal council are progressing. 

From left: Katharina Westerhorstmann, Dorothea Schmidt, Marianne Schlosser, and Hanna-Barbara Gerl-Falkovitz. Credit: Screenshot/YouTube /K-TV // courtesy photo // EWTN // Diocese of Münster

Four women opt out of German Synodal Way, saying it ‘departs from the universal Church’

Feb 22, 2023 / 08:30 am

Ahead of the German Synodal Way’s final meeting next month, four prominent participants officially announced Wednesday they were quitting the process.

Auxiliary Bishop Ansgar Puff in the devastated Kreuzerhöhungskirche in Wissen, Germany, Feb. 15, 2023. Credit: Archdiocese of Cologne 

Watchdog raises concerns after arson attacks on German, French churches

Feb 21, 2023 / 07:48 am

Following an arson attack on a historic church in Germany, a European watchdog has raised concerns over hate crimes targeting Christian churches.

Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich, archbishop of Luxembourg (left) and Cardinal Mario Grech, secretary general of the Synod of Bishops Daniel Ibáñez/CNA

‘We need time,’ Synod on Synodality organizers tell German-language media

Feb 14, 2023 / 07:40 am

Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich of Luxembourg and Maltese Cardinal Mario Grech made their remarks in the wake of the recent European Continental Assembly in Prague.