Wilmer grew up on a farm in Emsland. In 1980 he graduated at the Leoninum, a high school operated by the Dehonians in Handrup close to his hometown. In the same year, he entered the novitiate of the congregation in Freiburg. From 1981 to 1986 he studied theology in Freiburg and romance philology in Paris. After that he was ordained as priest by Archbishop Oskar Saier, the archbishop of Freiburg. He then went to Rome to study at the Gregorian Pontifical University; his focus was French philosophy. In 1991 Wilmer earned a Doctor of Theology in Freiburg, where he dealt with the concept of mysticism in the philosophy of Maurice Blondel. His works were awarded the Bernhard Welte Prize. Shortly after that, he studied for a Master of Arts in History. Sometime before he finished his first master's degree Wilmer met the Dutch priest Henri Nouwen. At the request of Nouwen, Wilmer represented him for four months as a pastor at L'Arche Daybreak in Toronto, a facility for people with disabilities. After that he worked for two years as a school counselor and taught religion, political science and history at the Liebfrauenschule Vechta in Niedersachsen, Germany. In 1997 he went to the United States for a year to teach German and history at the Fordham Preparatory School, a Jesuit high school in the Bronx. Upon his return, he became headmaster of the SCJ high school Leoninum in Handrup. In 2007, Wilmer was elected for Provincial Superior of the German Province of the Dehonians. Five years later he published a book in which he reflected on his faith and his decision to become a priest. On 25 May 2015 Wilmer was elected by the as its superior general. He succeeded José Ornelas Carvalho, SCJ, who held the office for 12 years. Carvalho is now bishop of the Diocese of Sétubal. Wilmer's term is for six years. On 6 April 2018, the pope had nominated Fr. Heiner Wilmer to be bishop of Hildesheim, Germany.
Positions
In June 2019, Wilmer supported married priests and said that there should not be only celibacy priests in Roman-catholic church.
Works
Mystik zwischen Tun und Denken: ein neuer Zugang zur Philosophie Maurice Blondels, Herder Freiburg 1992,
Wer leben will, muss aufbrechen: spirituell lernen von Brasilien, Don Bosco, München 2010,
Johannes Duns Scotus „Tractatus de primo principio“: wissenschaftstheoretische Überlegungen, Bonn H. Wilmer 2013,
