Margot Käßmann (ˈmaʁɡɔt ˈkɛːsman; born 3 June 1958) is a Lutheran theologian

Theology

Theology is the systematic and rational study of religion and its influences and of the nature of religious truths, or the learned profession acquired by completing specialized training in religious studies, usually at a university or school of divinity or seminary.-Definition:Augustine of Hippo...

 and was Landesbischöfin

Landesbischof

A Landesbischof is the head of some Protestant Landeskirche in Germany. Based on the principle of the summepiscopat, the Lutheran princes assumed the position of Head of Church in their territory after the Reformation...

(bishop) of the Evangelical-Lutheran Church of Hanover in Germany. On 28 October 2009, she was elected to lead the Evangelical Church in Germany

Evangelical Church in Germany

The Evangelical Church in Germany is a federation of 22 Lutheran, Unified and Reformed Protestant regional church bodies in Germany. The EKD is not a church in a theological understanding because of the denominational differences. However, the member churches share full pulpit and altar...

, a federation of Protestant church bodies in Germany. In the German context, "Evangelical" corresponds roughly to "mainline Protestant" rather than to "Evangelicalism

Evangelicalism

Evangelicalism is a Protestant Christian movement which began in Great Britain in the 1730s and gained popularity in the United States during the series of Great Awakenings of the 18th and 19th century.Its key commitments are:...

" as that is understood in English-speaking countries. an office from which she stepped down on 24 February 2010 following a drunk-driving incident.

Biography

Käßmann was born Margot Schulze in Marburg

Marburg

Marburg is a city in the state of Hesse, Germany, on the River Lahn. It is the main town of the Marburg-Biedenkopf district and its population, as of March 2010, was 79,911.- Founding and early history :...

. She passed her Abitur

Abitur

Abitur is a designation used in Germany, Finland and Estonia for final exams that pupils take at the end of their secondary education, usually after 12 or 13 years of schooling, see also for Germany Abitur after twelve years.The Zeugnis der Allgemeinen Hochschulreife, often referred to as...

 at the Elisabethschule Marburg

Elisabethschule Marburg

The Elisabethschule is a Gymnasium in Marburg.- History :The Elisabethschule was founded in 1879 as Höhere Töchterschule. It was a school only for girls in this time.- Foreign languages :The first foreign language is English starting in 5th grade...

 in 1977 and studied Protestant theology at the universities of Tübingen, Edinburgh

University of Edinburgh

The University of Edinburgh, founded in 1583, is a public research university located in Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland, and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The university is deeply embedded in the fabric of the city, with many of the buildings in the historic Old Town belonging to the university...

, Göttingen and Marburg. During her studies, she participated among other things in archaeological excavations in 1978 of several weeks' duration in Akko, Israel

Israel

The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...

. In 1983 she became a "Vikarin" (German for curate) in Wolfhagen

Wolfhagen

Wolfhagen is a town in the district of Kassel, in Hesse, Germany. It is located 12 km southeast of Bad Arolsen, and 23 km west of Kassel on the German Framework Road.-External links:*...

, near Kassel

Kassel

Kassel is a town located on the Fulda River in northern Hesse, Germany. It is the administrative seat of the Kassel Regierungsbezirk and the Kreis of the same name and has approximately 195,000 inhabitants.- History :...

. She also attended the Hotchkiss School

Hotchkiss School

The Hotchkiss School is an independent, coeducational American college preparatory boarding school located in Lakeville, Connecticut. Founded in 1891, the school enrolls students in grades 9 through 12 and a small number of postgraduates...

 on a scholarship by ASSIST

ASSIST (organization)

ASSIST is a non-profit organization with tax-exempt status incorporated in the state of Vermont...

.

She participated as a youth delegate in the 1983 plenary assembly of the World Council of Churches

World Council of Churches

The World Council of Churches is a worldwide fellowship of 349 global, regional and sub-regional, national and local churches seeking unity, a common witness and Christian service. It is a Christian ecumenical organization that is based in the Ecumenical Centre in Geneva, Switzerland...

 (WCC) in Vancouver, where she became the youngest member of the central committee. Between 1991 and 1998, she was a member of the executive committee of the WCC.

After her ministerial ordination in 1985, she became the village pastor of Frielendorf

Frielendorf

-Location:The state-recognized climatic spa of Frielendorf lies 9 km southwest of Homberg on the edge of the Knüllgebirge .-Constituent communities:...

-Spieskappel, in the Schwalm-Eder-Kreis

Schwalm-Eder-Kreis

Schwalm-Eder is a Kreis in the north of Hesse, Germany. Neighboring districts are Kassel, Werra-Meißner, Hersfeld-Rotenburg, Vogelsbergkreis, Marburg-Biedenkopf, Waldeck-Frankenberg.-History:...

, together with her husband, from whom she was divorced in 2007.

Käßmann earned her Ph.D. under Konrad Raiser

Konrad Raiser

Konrad Raiser is a former General Secretary of the World Council of Churches .Born in Magdeburg, Germany on 25 January 1938, Konrad Raiser studied spent his childhood in Schwerin, Göttingen and Bad Godesberg...

, at the Ruhr University Bochum

Bochum

Bochum is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, western Germany. It is located in the Ruhr area and is surrounded by the cities of Essen, Gelsenkirchen, Herne, Castrop-Rauxel, Dortmund, Witten and Hattingen.-History:...

, with a thesis on the topic "Poverty and Wealth as an Inquiry into the Unity of the Church". In 1990, she was assigned to the Evangelical Church's volunteer service, and from 1992 to 1994, she was director of studies at the Evangelical Academy at Hofgeismar. Between 1994 and 1999, she was General Secretary of the Deutscher Evangelischer Kirchentag

Deutscher Evangelischer Kirchentag

The Deutscher Evangelischer Kirchentag is a movement of lay members of the Evangelical Church in Germany...

(German Protestant Church Congress). In 1999, she was elected bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran [regional] Church of Hanover; she is the first woman to hold this office. In 2006 she underwent a breast cancer

Breast cancer

Breast cancer is cancer originating from breast tissue, most commonly from the inner lining of milk ducts or the lobules that supply the ducts with milk. Cancers originating from ducts are known as ductal carcinomas; those originating from lobules are known as lobular carcinomas...

 operation.

In 2002 she resigned from the WCC Central Committee after the results of a Special Commission on the participation of Orthodox churches in the WCC recommended that the term "ecumenical worship" be dropped, and that there be much clearer guidelines about what was termed "interconfessional common prayer". She is currently a member of the central committee of the Conference of European Churches

Conference of European Churches

The Conference of European Churches was founded in 1959 to promote reconciliation, dialogue and friendship between the churches of Europe at a time of growing Cold War political tensions and divisions. It is an ecumenical fellowship of Christian churches in Europe; its membership consists of most...

.

Margot Käßmann currently sits on the Advisor Board for the German Foundation for World Population

German Foundation for World Population

The German Foundation for World Population is an international non-governmental organisation addressing Sexual & Reproductive Health and population dynamics...

. In addition, she was involved as an ambassador for the 2006 FIFA World Cup

2006 FIFA World Cup

The 2006 FIFA World Cup was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which won the right to host the event in July 2000. Teams representing 198 national football associations from all six...

 for people with mental handicaps, held in Germany.

Käßmann is vocal in her objections to the political far right

Far right

Far-right, extreme right, hard right, radical right, and ultra-right are terms used to discuss the qualitative or quantitative position a group or person occupies within right-wing politics. Far-right politics may involve anti-immigration and anti-integration stances towards groups that are...

. She argued for a ban on the National Democratic Party of Germany

National Democratic Party of Germany

The National Democratic Party of Germany – The People's Union , is a far right German nationalist party. It was founded in 1964 a successor to the German Reich Party . Party statements self-identify as Germany's "only significant patriotic force"...

 claiming that the church ought not to "avert its eyes" as it had in 1933. She asked: "How can we tell young people that they should not support this party, if it is officially permitted?"

In January 2009, Käßmann expressed the opinion that it might be better to tear down former and unused churches than to allow them to be used for purposes that could damage their image. As examples of such purposes, she mentioned conversion into restaurants, discothèques, or mosques. A reassignment to a synagogue, however, she found positive. After protests from Muslims, she slightly qualified her statement, saying: "If a Christian congregation is convinced that the use as a mosque can happen in deepest peace, I concur, but at the moment I do not see that possibility."

In May 2010, Käßmann was a keynote speaker at the 2nd Ecumenical Kirchentag(German Evangelical Lutheran Church and Roman Catholic Church Congress) in Munich, Bavaria, where she also led night prayer at Marienplatz on the final evening of the event. She will be teaching at Emory University

Emory University

Emory University is a private research university in metropolitan Atlanta, located in the Druid Hills section of unincorporated DeKalb County, Georgia, United States. The university was founded as Emory College in 1836 in Oxford, Georgia by a small group of Methodists and was named in honor of...

 from August - December 2010. As of 1 January 2011, she will be a guest professor at the Ruhr University Bochum

Bochum

Bochum is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, western Germany. It is located in the Ruhr area and is surrounded by the cities of Essen, Gelsenkirchen, Herne, Castrop-Rauxel, Dortmund, Witten and Hattingen.-History:...

 where she had earned her PhD in 1989.

Family

Käßmann has four daughters. She was the first German bishop to file for divorce, in 2007, and on 6 August 2007, it was communicated to the church senate of the regional church that her divorce was legally valid. The church senate, and the leadership of the Hanover regional church, supported Käßmann and endorsed her continued tenure of the bishop's office, as did the leader of a conservative center.

Chair of the Council of the Evangelical Church in Germany

She was a member of the Council of the Evangelical Church in Germany, and on October 28, 2009, she was elected Chair of the Council, the first woman in that position. She received 132 of the 142 votes cast, and said she wants the church to be more contemporary, and hopes to attract more people to it.

Her election provoked negative reactions from the leadership of the Russian Orthodox Church, which declared that it was ready to suspend its dialogue with German Lutherans because of Käßmann's non-traditional views and her unusual status as a female Protestant bishop.

On 20 February 2010, Käßmann was pulled over for driving through a red light on the streets of Hanover. It was determined through a blood test that her blood alcohol level was at 1.54 per mil. (The legal limit is 0.3 per mil in Germany.) Her license was immediately confiscated. She could face the loss of her driver's license for one year and pay a fine of one month's salary. Despite receiving a vote of confidence from the council of the Evangelical Church in Germany, she stepped down from her office as leader of the Evangelical Church and as bishop on 24 February 2010.

Honours

• 2001: Käßmann received the preaching prize (Predigtpreis) for exemplary achievements in the area of the proclamation of the Gospel.
• 2002: She received an honorary doctorate from the faculty of pedagogy
  Pedagogy
  Pedagogy is the study of being a teacher or the process of teaching. The term generally refers to strategies of instruction, or a style of instruction....
  
   at Hannover University.

Published opinions of the Evangelical church

Käßmann promotes larger emphasis on Christianity in the Protestant church, compared to past decades; for example, she is concerned by the fact that lessons for confirmation candidates focus more on cults and drugs than on the Bible. She argues for a clearer spiritual profile in church-run facilities, for example, more Bible stories being told in Protestant kindergartens rather than only secular songs being sung. In her opinion, children and adults should pray more, and churches should look like churches and not like noncommittal community centers.

She also criticises a number of positions of the Roman Catholic Church

Roman Catholic Church

The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...

. For example, she disagrees with some of the Roman Catholic teachings about homosexuality

Homosexuality

Homosexuality is romantic or sexual attraction or behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality refers to "an enduring pattern of or disposition to experience sexual, affectional, or romantic attractions" primarily or exclusively to people of the same...

, artificial contraception, action on reducing the spread of AIDS

AIDS

Acquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus...

, ordination of women

Ordination of women

Ordination in general religious usage is the process by which a person is consecrated . The ordination of women is a regular practice among some major religious groups, as it was of several religions of antiquity...

 and celibacy

Celibacy

Celibacy is a personal commitment to avoiding sexual relations, in particular a vow from marriage. Typically celibacy involves avoiding all romantic relationships of any kind. An individual may choose celibacy for religious reasons, such as is the case for priests in some religions, for reasons of...

.

Published works

• Die eucharistische Vision (The Eucharistic Vision). Gütersloh 1992, ISBN 3-579-02071-4
• with Rüdiger Runge (ed.): Kirche in Bewegung. 50 Jahre Deutscher Evangelischer Kirchentag. (Church in Flux: Fifty Years of the Deutscher Evangelischer Kirchentag) Gütersloher Verlagshaus, Gütersloh 1999
• Gewalt überwinden. Eine Dekade des Ökumenischen Rates der Kirchen. (Overcoming violence: A decade of the WCC) Hannover 2000, ISBN 3-785-90803-2
• Erziehen als Herausforderung (The Challenge of Childraising) Freiburg 2002, ISBN 978-3451051975
• Auf gutem Grund. Standpunkte und Predigten (On Good Ground: Standpoints and Homilies) Hannover 2002, ISBN 978-3785908778
• Kirche in gesellschaftlichen Konflikten. Kirchenleitende Predigten (The Church in social conflict: Homilies for Church Leaders) Stuttgart 2003, ISBN 978-3170179011
• Was können wir hoffen - was können wir tun? Antworten und Orientierung. (What can we hope - what can we do? Answers and Advice) Freiburg 2003, ISBN 978-3451053856
• Ökumene am Scheideweg. (Ecumenical Christianity at a Schism) Hannover 2003, ISBN 978-3785908785
• Wenn das Leben voller Fragen ist. Briefe der Zuwendung (When life is full of questions: letters of devotion) Freiburg 2004, ISBN 978-3451054600
• Gut zu leben. Gedanken für jeden Tag. (It's good to be alive: prayers of thanks for every day) Freiburg 2004, ISBN 978-3451055522
• In der Welt habt ihr Angst... (You are afraid in the world...) Mit Beiträgen von Angelika Beer, Dorothea Bobzin, Horst Hirschler, Wolfgang Schäuble u. a. Hannover 2004, ISBN 978-3785909058
• Wurzeln, die uns Flügel schenken (Roots, which give us wings) Gütersloh 2005, ISBN 978-3579069081
• with Wolfgang Huber and Manfred Kock: Wenn eure Kinder morgen fragen. Zur Zukunft der evangelischen Kirche. Im Gespräch. (If your children ask tomorrow: on the future of the evangelical church - in interview) Freiburg 2005, ISBN 978-3451286001
• Wie ist es so im Himmel? Kinderfragen fordern uns heraus. (What's it like in Heaven? Children's questions challenge us) Freiburg 2006, ISBN 978-3451290350
• (ed.): Ökumene bewegt. Die Kirchen auf dem Weg zueinander. (Ecumenism in motion: churches moving together) Stuttgart 2006, ISBN 978-3783125306
• Mehr als fromme Wünsche. Was mich bewegt. (More than pious wishes: what moves me) Freiburg 2007, ISBN 978-3451058523
• Gesät ist die Hoffnung. 14 Begegnungen auf dem Kreuzweg Jesu. (Hope has been sown: Fourteen Encounters on Jesus' Way of the Cross) Freiburg 2007, ISBN 978-3451293566
• Matthias Micheel (Hrsg.): Ein Engel möge dich begleiten.(An Angel would like to accompany you) Texte von Hermann Multhaupt, Anselm Grün, Margot Käßmann, Norbert Blüm u. a. Leipzig 2007, ISBN 978-3746223100 (new edition)
• Mit Herzen, Mund und Händen. Spiritualität im Alltag leben. Gütersloh 2007, ISBN 978-3579064420; English translation: With Hearts, Hands and Voices: Spirituality for Everyday Life. Geneva 2007, ISBN 978-2825415221
• Mit Leib und Seele auf dem Weg. Handbuch des Pilgerns in der hannoverschen Landeskirche. Hannover 2007, ISBN 978-3-7859-0946-1

External links