STORY: The public prosecutor’s office in Cologne has started criminal investigations against Rainer Maria Cardinal Woelki. The allegation of false affidavit is being investigated, it said. Previously, a former employee of the HR department of the Archdiocese of Cologne had heavily burdened Woelki in a newspaper interview. The accusation: Woelki was informed early on about allegations of abuse against the former Sternsinger boss Winfried Pilz. Woelki had declared in two affidavits in court that he had only dealt with the allegations of abuse in June of this year. After the investigation became known, Woelki again rejected all allegations against him as unjustified. Jürgen Kleikamp, press spokesman for the Archdiocese of Cologne, said on Wednesday: “I’m assuming that these investigations will result in the same result as the previous efforts of the public prosecutor’s office, which has already said twice: In this matter there is not even one a justified initial suspicion. And I also believe that the new allegations made in a newspaper interview have little substance.” Maria Mesrian from the church movement Maria 2.0, on the other hand, welcomed the investigations by the Cologne public prosecutor’s office against Woelki. Now he and the entire head of the diocese would have to rest their offices, says Mesrian: “Well, he can’t resign because he’s waiting for the pope, who has to accept this resignation. But of course it would be humanly necessary to say, I’ll let it go My offices are suspended. And I must add that the entire Cologne diocesan leadership should now have their offices suspended. Because according to Ms. Dahm’s statements, we know that everyone knew something. This entire diocesan leadership is involved and knows exactly what happened. ” The archdiocese now wants to examine whether labor law action needs to be taken against the former employee who accused Woelki, who reported from the sensitive area of personnel management and used her position of trust to do so, according to a statement.