He was a chaplain in Speyer from 1956 to 1958 and taught at the seminary there from 1958 to 1960. He was assistant parish priest for a year in Glanmünchweiler, and then taught as Professor of Fundamental Theology in Eichstätt from 1962 to 1967 and as Professor of Dogmatic Theology at the Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz in 1967 for a year.[2]
Bishop and cardinal
On 28 May 1968, Pope Paul VI appointed him bishop of Speyer.[3] He received his episcopal consecration on 29 June[1] from Bishop Isidor Markus Emanuel, his predecessor in Speyer.
Pope John Paul II named him Archbishop of Munich and Freising on 28 October 1982[4] and he was installed there on 12 December.
While Archbishop of Munich and Freising, he chaired the Freising Bishops Conference and from 1981 to 2008 he chaired the faith commission of the German Bishops' Conference.[5]
In October 2004 he protested that objections to the appointment of Rocco Buttiglione to the European Commission represented anti-Catholic bias, saying that Catholics like Konrad Adenauer, Robert Schuman, and Alcide de Gasperi, founders of the European Union, would now be excluded from its leadership.[6] Buttiglione, a conservative Catholic nominated to handle issues of civil liberties and discrimination, had promised that his personal views would not interfere with his work, but members of the European parliament found his views on homosexuality and the proper role of women in society disqualifying.[7]
Pope Benedict accepted his resignation on 2 February 2007.[9] He continued there as apostolic administrator until the installation of Reinhard Marx as his successor on 2 February 2008.[10]
The January 2022 report on the handling of cases of sexual abuse on the part of priests in the Munich archdiocese accused Wetter of "mishandling" 21 cases during his tenure as archbishop and administrator. Wetter defended his actions in detail and disputed much of the report; he admitted fault in one case in particular that the report addressed at great length. He apologized for failing to listen to victims of abuse and recognizing how abuse affected them and their families.[11][12]
Works (selected)
Die Trinitätslehre des Johannes Duns Scotus (= Beiträge zur Geschichte der Philosophie und Theologie des Mittelalters, file 41, H. 5), Aschendorff, Münster 1967, (Thesis of Habilitation, University of Munich, Munich, Theological Faculty, 28. Oktober 1965).