Pope Francis has ordered an apostolic visitation of the archdiocese of Cologne, which has been rocked by a damning report on child sex abuse, the diocese disclosed yesterday.
Africa Today News gathered that the Pope has gone on to appoint two ‘apostolic visitors’ charged with establishing a ‘comprehensive picture of the complex pastoral situation in the archdiocese’, it said in a statement.
They will also examine ‘possible mistakes made’ by Cologne’s Archbishop Rainer Maria Woelki.
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Cardinal Anders Arborelius of Stockholm and Bishop Johannes van den Hende of Rotterdam will carry out their investigations over the first two weeks of June.
The probe comes as Woelki faces a wave of criticism, including allegations that he helped cover up abuse by two priests in Duesseldorf, one of whom has since died.
The cardinal has faced angry protests this week over plans for him to carry out a confirmation service for 17 young people in the city.
Arch-conservative Woelki refused last year to allow the publication of a study on abuse committed by priests in Germany’s top diocese.
He had justified his decision citing a right to privacy for those accused in the report, carried out by a Munich law firm, and what he called a lack of independence on the part of some researchers.
He then commissioned a second report, published in March, which revealed that 314 minors, mostly boys under the age of 14, were sexually abused between 1975 and 2018 in the diocese, mostly by clergy.
However, the investigation cleared Woelki of breach of duty over the abuse.
AFRICA TODAY NEWS, NEW YORK