"I should have communicated differently with those affected" - the Archbishop of Cologne admits omissions

The Archbishop of Cologne, Rainer Maria Woelki, has admitted failures in dealing with abuse. Overall, it was a "tedious process," he told the Düsseldorf "Rheinische Post" (Tuesday online). “I definitely made mistakes there. I should have communicated differently, especially with those affected.” But there was never a lack of willingness to clarify, the archbishop emphasized.

After taking office, he found "chaos" in the diocese administration, Woelki told the "Kölnische Rundschau" (Tuesday). "There were files that you had to look for everywhere," said Woelki. “I had massive boards to drill. Against the resistance of some in the Archdiocese of Cologne.”

He did not want to describe the church as a "perpetrator organization", Woelki told the "Rheinische Post". Rather, the church is “an organization in which there are perpetrators”. It was "absolutely reprehensible that such crimes were possible within the Church," underlined the cardinal. "But hopefully they are never possible today and in the future." He pointed out that in the archdiocese more than 100,000 full-time and volunteers have already been trained on prevention issues.

According to Woelki, the crisis in the Archdiocese of Cologne changed things. "I've actually never felt so powerless as I have in the past two or three years," the 66-year-old told the Düsseldorfer Zeitung. The allegations against him personally in connection with the processing of abuse cases would have "affected him personally to a great extent because I was one of the first to initiate the processing".

With a view to the investigations of the Cologne prosecutor, who is investigating whether Woelki could have made two false affidavits in the context of the investigation of abuse cases, the cardinal said he was awaiting the results with "complete composure". Regarding a list of clergymen accused at the time, which a former employee said she had compiled for submission to Woelki in 2015, the archbishop said that he "really no longer remembers" this list.

The public prosecutor's office in Cologne is investigating Woelki on suspicion of a false affidavit. Among other things, it is about the question of when he knew about alleged acts of abuse by Winfried Pilz, the former president of the children's missionary work "Die Sternsinger". Woelki swore under oath that he only found out about it at the end of June this year. The former assistant to the head of human resources in the General Vicariate in Cologne contradicts this representation.

The archbishop of Cologne has come under heavy criticism in recent years for his handling of the processing of cases of abuse in his archdiocese. Last year, the Pope sent experts to the diocese to evaluate the situation there. He then ordered Woelki to take a six-month break that ended in early March. Woelki resumed his official duties. At the same time he submitted a resignation. The Pope's decision on this is still pending.