Previously, a selection committee from the cathedral chapter and former members of the diocesan pastoral council had discussed possible candidates, as the diocese of Hildesheim announced on Wednesday.
The list is due to be handed over to the Pope's ambassador to Germany, Archbishop Hubertus van Megen, in November.
The names of the three candidates will not be published. The cathedral chapter had drawn up the final list according to the specifications of the Prussian Concordat and under papal secrecy, it said.
In addition to Domdechant Heinz-Günter Bongartz, representatives of the groups involved in the selection will take part in the handover to the Apostolic Nuncio.
Around 630 Catholics talk to
The candidate search was preceded by a new participation process for Hildesheim. In mid-September, cathedral capitulars and former members of the Diocesan Pastoral Council had spoken to faithful in eight places about what qualities and abilities the future bishop should bring with him.
Around 630 people attended at the time. In addition, Catholics were able to propose to the cathedral chapter concrete names of possible candidates. According to the diocese, a total of about 100 entries were received.
After the presentation of the possible candidates, the selection committee had intensively advised and finally named three people "under prayer and in great agreement," the diocese said. On this basis, the cathedral chapter consisting of eight priests subsequently decided on its own responsibility to the final list of candidates.
Bongartz acknowledged the procedure as a spiritual and synodal process. All parties involved were aware of their high responsibilities. The common path has shown "how much the synodal thought also holds together people with different responsibilities in the Church in this way".
The diocesan pastoral council was an advisory body of the then bishop, in which representatives of various areas of church life participated. With Wilmer's move to Münster, the work of the panel ended. For the search for his successor, the cathedral chapter again included previous members in the deliberations.
Diocese since June without bishop
Wilmer had headed the diocese of Hildesheim since 2018 and moved to Münster as a bishop in June. Since then, Auxiliary Bishop Martin Marahrens has temporarily led the diocese as a diocesan administrator.
The diocese includes a good 490,000 Catholics in large parts of Lower Saxony as well as in Bremen-Nord and Bremerhaven.
The bishop's election is based on the Prussian Concordat of 1929. The Hildesheimer proposal list is included in the further proceedings in Rome via the nuncio.
In addition, other legitimate bishops and the nuncio can also propose candidates. In the end, the cathedral chapter receives a list of three names from which it elects the new Hildesheim bishop.