[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.

[5] He was made a cardinal by Pope John Paul on 25 May 1985, with the title of Cardinal-Priest of Santo Stefano Rotondo.

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.