Clerics and other employees of the Archdiocese of Cologne have shown keen interest in porn sites. There have been “massive attempts to access porn websites from the service computers of the Archdiocese of Cologne,” reports the Cologne City Gazette. Among the “dozens of employees” who were interested in these pages were “high-ranking clerics”. Accordingly, there is a list from the Archdiocese with more than 1000 access attempts.
The Archdiocese of Cologne confirmed the existence of a list with more than 1000 access attempts and announced that this was the result of a routine check by the IT service provider. The Archdiocese regularly checks whether the firewalls are able to ward off attempts to access risky sites with depictions of violence, pornography or drugs. However, the usage behavior of individuals should not be controlled. The activities that have now become public are said to have been known to the diocese leadership since July 2022.
The documented access attempts were successfully prevented by the automatic web content filter. “Based on the routine check, there were no indications of criminally relevant behavior,” said the archdiocese. An evaluation of the specific content behind the web addresses was not carried out. A spokeswoman for the Cologne public prosecutor’s office said on request that the list from the archdiocese was in front of the authority and was being checked. So far, however, there has been neither the initial suspicion of a criminal offense nor an investigation. Visiting porn sites is only punishable if, for example, minors are seen engaging in sexual acts. For employees of the Archdiocese, visiting porn sites is still prohibited in a service agreement, reports the Cologne City Gazette.
In June, the Cologne public prosecutor’s office took action against an employee of the Archdiocese who was suspected of possessing child pornography. He no longer works in the Vicariate General, the central administration of the diocese.
Cardinal Woelki was not among those who wanted to access porn sites
According to Catholic teaching, consumption of pornography is a sin. The Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger even quotes Pope Francis as saying: “The devil comes from there.” The head of the Archdiocese of Cologne, Cardinal Rainer Maria Woelki, appeared during the recently completed Synodal Path reform process as the most prominent critic of a renewal of the church. Among other things, the synodal path aimed to relax the mandatory celibacy for priests (celibacy) and to liberalize Catholic sexual morality.
The Archdiocese of Cologne made it clear that Woelki was not among those who tried to access porn sites. “We have received several inquiries from the media as to whether the cardinal is also one of the users of the incriminated pages,” said the largest German diocese. “In-house investigations have clearly shown that this is not the case.”
Woelki himself said in a statement that he was “disappointed” with the employees concerned. “To some, the consumption of pornography may seem harmless. But I agree with Pope Francis, who condemns it and warns of its dangers, especially the violation of human dignity.” When he found out about it, he immediately requested an examination and ordered that the legal regulations be followed, according to Woelki. “We have a large number of committed and reliable employees in the church sector. It is important to me that not everyone is now placed under general suspicion,” said Woelki.