The Holy Father has appointed Fr. Matthäus Karrer as auxiliary of the diocese of Rottenburg-Stuttgart (area 19,500, population 5,082,000, Catholics 1,862,381, priests 1,023, permanent deacons 286, religious 3,358), Germany. The bishop-elect was born in 1968 in Ravensburg, Germany, and was ordained a priest in 1995. He studied philosophy and theology in Tübingen and Munich, and has served in a number of roles in the diocese of Rottenburg-Stuttgart, including deputy priest in Herrenberg and Ulm-Söfingen, head of youth pastoral ministry in Ravensburg, pastor of the St. Georg und Jakobus parish in Isny and the St. Mary parish in Neutrachburg, and dean of the Allgäu-Oberschwaben pastoral zone. Since 2011 he has served as canon of the Cathedral Chapter of Rottenburg and director of the diocesan pastoral office. He succeeds Bishop Johannes Kreidler, whose resignation from the office of auxiliary of the same diocese was accepted by the Holy Father.