The Cologne Catholic College for Theology, Cardinal Woelki’s favorite project, is apparently missing millions. Now Vicar General Hofmann has to go – and Woelki irritates with statements about the Pope.
Now there is a resignation in the crisis-ridden Archdiocese of Cologne: the Vicar General of Cardinal Rainer Maria Woelki, Markus Hofmann, 54, is resigning from his office. The post of head of administration will be filled again in the summer, the archdiocese announced. And linked the personnel with explosive information about church finances: During a routine transaction in the foundation area, a “contractual arrangement with unusual content” became known, it was said. This develops “a significant and long-term economic binding effect” for the archdiocese and the foundation and has “so far not been accounted for by any of the corporations”.
A spokesman for the archdiocese did not want to say which foundation it was for reasons of personal rights. As the Catholic News Agency learned from church circles, it is about the “Foundation for the Promotion of Education, Science and Research in the Archdiocese of Cologne”. It was founded to take over the sponsorship of the Cologne University of Catholic Theology (KHKT) at the beginning of 2020. The KHKT is a favorite project of Woelki, to which he is personally involved. Observers see the establishment of the university as an attempt to set up a conservative institution alongside the more liberal Catholic Theological Faculty at the University of Bonn, with which Woelki had come into conflict over filling vacancies.
The Pope is “old” and “out of touch with reality”
At the time, Woelki assured his diocesan committees that no church tax funds should be used for the university. Instead, the foundation should ensure “external financing” through major donors and fundraising. In the long term, there is talk of a requirement of eight to ten million euros per year. The funds for start-up financing were taken from the so-called BB fund. This is a special fund formed over decades by donations from Cologne clergy, which the archbishop can personally dispose of. The abuse victims receive their payments from the same pot. Woelki also paid the controversial 2.8 million euros for experts and PR consultants in the course of dealing with the abuse. According to KNA information, however, the pot is obviously not sufficient for the short and medium-term financing of the university.
Over the weekend, Woelki appeared before the Diocesan Pastoral Council, his main advisory body, for the first time since returning from his five-month sabbatical. There, however, he irritated with statements about Pope Francis – the man to whom he had only recently offered his resignation due to the ongoing crisis of confidence, and who is now to decide on his future. Francis is “old” and “out of touch with reality,” Woelki is said to have said in the non-public meeting, according to several participants. A spokesman for the archdiocese said that although Woelki used the phrase “old man” for the 85-year-old pope, this was in no way meant to be disrespectful.