Archbishop of Cologne - 2024 - the year of truth for Cardinal Woelki
Cardinal Rainer Maria Woelki gave two hours of testimony in court last year when he was asked whether he was prepared to swear to his statement. Yes, he was, was the answer. A brief moment of amusement followed when the presiding judge remarked that in Woelki's case he could probably dispense with the question of whether the oath should be taken with or without the divine formula. The churchman then stood up and declared: "I swear it, so help me God!"
With that, everything he had said before was sworn. And this despite the fact that, as a trial observer, you could get the impression at one point or another that the churchman was answering with a certain nonchalance and from general memory. What many had suspected happened immediately: Woelki was charged with making false statements.
As a result, the public prosecutor's office extended its investigation against the head of Germany's largest diocese, which had been ongoing since November 2022. Now, not only the accusation of making a false affidavit in lieu of oath has been investigated, but also that of perjury. Woelki himself believes he has been wrongly accused: "I will definitely not go there and perjure myself as a bishop," he asserted in an interview with the German Press Agency in 2022.
Lots of data confiscated
In June 2023, the public prosecutor's office even searched Woelki's residence, the archbishop's house in the center of Cologne, as part of the investigation and confiscated a lot of data. Their evaluation is still ongoing. As the public prosecutor's office told dpa, the investigation is expected to continue for several months.
At the heart of the matter is the question of when Woelki was informed about allegations of abuse against priests. The cardinal had originally taken legal action himself to defend himself against reports in the "Bild" newspaper. He was able to prevail in his lawsuits several times, but the civil proceedings led to criminal investigations by the public prosecutor's office. Woelki's sworn statements did not go unchallenged on all points. For example, a former employee of the archdiocese explained in an interview with the "Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger" that she "could no longer stand (...) knowing things at first hand that contradicted Cardinal Woelki's public statements".
Lawsuits against "Bild"
One would like to know whether Woelki is still convinced deep down that the lawsuits against "Bild" were worth all the trouble - or whether he now wishes he had swallowed his frustration at the time and let the matter rest. In the year 2024, which has just begun, there are many additional opportunities to look back, because in September it will be ten years since Woelki was formally inaugurated in Cologne Cathedral. After 25 leaden years under the arch-conservative Cardinal Joachim Meisner, there were great expectations for the new archbishop. The Green Catholic Sylvia Löhrmann - at the time Deputy Prime Minister of North Rhine-Westphalia - declared at the festive service that Woelki "fits in with a new, modern Catholic Church". Among other things, she was thinking of the role of women in the church and alternative forms of partnership.
His critics are more visible in public
However, this turned out to be pure wishful thinking. Woelki opposed any liberal reform, from communion for remarried divorcees to the blessing of homosexual couples and the Synodal Way renewal process. Criticism rolled off him. "There are people you can talk to like a dead horse," sighed the Chairman of the German Bishops' Conference, Georg Bätzing, some time ago. The Limburg bishop - a resolute reformer - accuses Woelki of having "lost the acceptance of the people".
Woelki himself sees it differently and points out that he also receives a lot of encouragement and support. However, his critics are more visible to the public: parishioners who show Woelki the red card, altar servers who demonstratively turn their backs on him, and Pope Francis, who in 2021 accused him of "major mistakes" and ordered him to take several months off. Woelki also had to offer his resignation. However, nothing more has been heard of this since then, so it can be assumed that the Pope will leave him in office for the time being.
In 2024, there will probably be another way of deciding what happens to Woelki: if the investigations lead to an indictment, he will have to answer to the courts and could even face a prison sentence. If, on the other hand, the investigation is dropped, the now 67-year-old archbishop can hope to continue for another eight years. A Catholic bishop usually only asks the Pope to release him into retirement at the age of 75. Until then, many reform-minded Catholics in the Archdiocese of Cologne could leave the church in frustration.
Read also:
- Year of climate records: extreme is the new normal
- Precautionary arrests show Islamist terror threat
- UN vote urges Israel to ceasefire
- SPD rules out budget resolution before the end of the year
- The investigation against Archbishop Rainer Maria Woelki of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, was extended by the public prosecutor's office following his trial last year.
- Woelki's residence in Cologne was searched by the public prosecutor's office in June 2023 as part of the investigation, resulting in the confiscation of a substantial amount of data.
- Critics have been more vocal in their opposition to Woelki's conservative stance on church reforms, including Limburg Bishop Georg Bätzing, who accused Woelki of losing the acceptance of the people.
- The public prosecutor's office is investigating Woelki for making false statements and perjury, with the focus on when the archbishop was informed about allegations of abuse against priests.
- In 2024, Woelki will reach a significant milestone in his tenure as archbishop, marking ten years since his formal inauguration in Cologne Cathedral.
- If the investigation against Woelki leads to an indictment, he may face a prison sentence, potentially leading to frustration among reform-minded Catholics in the Archdiocese of Cologne.
Source: www.stern.de
