Gerhard Maria Wagner

Who is Gerhard Maria Wagner?

Gerhard Maria Wagner — born 1954 July 17, Wartberg ob der Aist, Austria—was appointed auxiliary bishop of Linz, Austria, by Pope Benedict XVI on 2009 January 31. Amidst controversy over his views that sin caused Hurricane Katrina, Wagner resigned on 2009 February 15.

Wagner had already become widely known in the world press for his 2005 comment attributing Hurricane Katrina to God's ire toward the sins of New Orleans. James Gill, columnist for the New Orleans Times-Picayune, satirically called for the Pope next to elevate Wagner as Archbishop of New Orleans after protests from Roman Catholics in three New Orleans congregations over the merging of their churches by aging Archbishop Alfred Clifton Hughes. The churches had been depopulated in part by out-migration resulting from Hurricane Katrina. Indeed, two months after Gill's writing, Hughes was engaged in encouraging the University of Notre Dame to disembark from plans to host President Barack Obama, a supporter of abortion rights, as commencement speaker, and within days of Hughes' announcement of opposition to Obama's appearance the Times-Picayune published a letter to the editor urging that Hughes should instead have complained to the Pope about the short-lived appointment of Wagner to be auxiliary bishop of Linz.