Pope Francis leaves the Archbishop of Cologne, Cardinal Rainer Maria Woelki, in office. This was announced by the Apostolic Nunciature via the press office of the Catholic German Bishops’ Conference in Bonn. However, Woelki is taking a break of several months, which should last from mid-October until the beginning of Lent. The Pope is complying with Woelki’s own wish. During the time of Woelki’s absence, Auxiliary Bishop Rolf Steinhäuser will be appointed as administrator for the archbishopric.
Cardinal Woelki made big mistakes in approaching the issue of reappraisal as a whole, especially at the level of communication, the message said. These mistakes had contributed significantly to the fact that there was a crisis of confidence in the Archdiocese of Cologne.
In a press statement at lunchtime Woelki commented on the Pope’s decision: “I made mistakes in the process of coming to terms with it, including communication, for which I take responsibility, I regret that and I’m sorry,” said the Archbishop. It is grateful for the support of the Pope and for his decision.
The Archbishop of Cologne has been criticized for his handling of the abuse scandal in the Catholic Church for some time. At the end of 2018, he commissioned an expert opinion on how those responsible in the Archdiocese of Cologne deal with cases of abuse, but did not publish it. Woelki cited legal problems and methodological deficiencies as reasons for this. Woelki had this decision approved by the Cologne Advisory Board, which was not aware of the report. The spokesperson for the Advisory Board then left the committee in protest.
In a second report commissioned and published by Woelki, the cardinal himself was exonerated of misconduct. The former Cologne Personnel Officer and Vicar General, Stefan Heße, who is now Archbishop of Hamburg, was charged with eleven breaches of duty. Heße then offered Pope Francis the resignation from the office of Archbishop, Francis refused this resignation last week.
Other clergymen who were accused of breach of duty in the report were given leave of absence by Woelki. This concerned the Cologne Auxiliary Bishop Ansgar Puff and Dominikus Schwaderlapp, today Auxiliary Bishop in the Archdiocese of Cologne and Vicar General under the former Cologne Cardinal Joachim Meisner. Both Puff and Schwaderlapp had offered the Pope to resign, but the Pope refused. Puff will resume his regular service immediately, Schwaderlapp will initially go to Kenya as a pastor for a year at his own request, the Holy See announced on Friday.
Because of the crisis of confidence, Pope Francis sent two Apostolic Visitators to Cologne in June to investigate the situation in the Archdiocese and report to him. A press release from the Apostolic Nunciature said that Pope Francis had carefully taken note of the results of the Apostolic Visitation.
Many Catholics for Woelkis to be recalled
In a survey, 39 percent of all respondents and 61 percent of the Catholics questioned answered yes to the question of whether Pope Franziskus Woelki should recall. The polling institute Insa carried out the representative survey on behalf of Image-Newspaper carried out.
The decision from Rome will be made shortly after the autumn plenary assembly of the German Catholic bishops in Fulda. These had discussed, among other things, the reform process of the Synodal Way and the further processing of cases of abuse in the Catholic Church.
Georg Bätzing, the chairman of the German Bishops’ Conference, said he was accepting the decisions of the Holy Father and hoped that the process would contribute to reconciliation in the Archdiocese of Cologne. Bätzing, however, is reluctant to ask whether the loss of confidence can be quickly made up for.
“What is said in the note on the determination of Cardinal Woelki’s will to come to terms with it is on the one hand true, on the other hand it leaves many affected people perplexed and injured in view of the situation that has arisen. It also affects other dioceses that have already begun a process of coming to terms with it could contribute a good part to renewal and reconciliation, “writes the bishop.
The President of the Central Committee of German Catholics (ZdK), Thomas Sternberg, has criticized Pope Francis’ decision to appoint Cologne Cardinal Rainer Maria Woelki. “I cannot understand the Vatican decision to keep Cardinal Woelki in office,” said Sternberg. “The instrument of a time-out is not enough. It is completely unclear what can come at the end of such a time-out, and it is not suitable for restoring lost trust.”