Carlos Kloppenburg was born in Molbergen,[1] district of Cloppenburg near Oldenburg, Germany, on November 2, 1919.

On August 8, 1986, Pope Paul II appointed him to the Diocese of Novo Hamburgo.

For that purpose he also studied parapsychology at Duke University, U.S.A. under Dr Charles S Rhyne.

On August 12, 1980, Bishop Kloppenburg was appointed as a member of the International Theological Commission (Acta Apostolicae Sedis)[citation needed] While at Vatican II and before he was closely associated with then Bishop Joseph Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XVI.

[3] Bishop Kloppenburg in the 1970s and 1980s was engaged in doctrinal battles with the proponents of liberation theology.