Jean-Claude Hollerrich was born in Differdange, Luxembourg, on 9 August 1958. He entered the Society of Jesus in 1981, went to Japan in 1985 to study theology, Japanese language and culture at Sophia University in Tokyo, and was ordained a priest on 21 April 1990 in Brussels. He spent four years studying German literature in Munich and made his final Jesuit vows in Tokyo in 2002, joining the Japan province — a formation that made him fluent in Japanese and at home in the Church of Asia.
In 2011 Benedict XVI appointed him Archbishop of Luxembourg. He led Europe's Justice and Peace commissions (2014–2018) and from 2018 the COMECE, the commission of EU bishops. Pope Francis created him a cardinal on 5 October 2019, with the title of San Giovanni Crisostomo a Monte Sacro Alto. On 8 July 2021 Francis appointed him relator general — in effect the steering hand — of the Synod on Synodality (2023–2024), and in March 2023 to the Council of Cardinals.
Consequential Quotes
I believe that the sociological-scientific foundation of this teaching is no longer correct.
I fully believe in the tradition of the Church, and what I think is important in this process is not changing doctrine.
In Europe, we speak more of tradition than of faith. But tradition is only understood when there is faith to interpret it. So, it is beautiful to see the faith as it is lived in Africa.
We do not need the synod in the Catholic Church in order to experience tensions. These tensions come from the fact that each one honestly wants to see or share how we can follow Christ and proclaim Christ in the world today. That is the source of tension.
Major Works & Initiatives
Relator General of the Synod on Synodality
Steered the universal synod process for Pope Francis.
Archbishop of Luxembourg
Head of the Church in the Grand Duchy.
President of COMECE
Led the EU bishops' commission in Brussels.
Council of Cardinals
Member of the Pope's advisory council.
Controversies
The 2022 interview and the Pell memo
Hollerrich's 2022 statement that the Church's teaching on homosexuality rests on a “sociological-scientific foundation” that “is no longer correct” caused uproar. An anonymous memorandum circulated among cardinals ahead of the 2025 conclave — later revealed as authored by the late Cardinal George Pell — described Hollerrich as “explicitly heretical.”