Archbishop Udo Markus Bentz of Paderborn is planning a new form of itinerant presence during his term of office: starting next October, he will regularly move his official residence to another area of his archdiocese for a week, as he announced in a press release published on the archdiocese’s website. “I want to know what is going on at the grassroots level”. The archdiocese of Paderborn is divided into 19 deaneries, all of which Bentz visited for one day during his first year in office. Mgr Bentz, aged 58, has been Archbishop of Paderborn for a year, having taken office on 10 March 2024. He leads about 1.3 million Catholics, mainly concentrated in Westphalia and parts of Hesse and Lower Saxony. This means that Paderborn spreads over several Länder, with significant social, economic and distribution differences among the faithful. Mgr Bentz said that direct impressions inspire him and shape his pastoral responsibilities. “It is important for me not only to lead from afar, but to experience the Church where it is really lived, whether in the Sauerland, in the Ruhr area or in other places of our archdiocese”. For the first time on 5 October, he will move his official residence to the Sauerland region. Mgr Bentz announced that the archdiocese would undergo further restructuring during his second year in office. Concrete objectives should be published shortly.