Now that insiders are breaking their silence, the endgame begins for Woelki

"Nos sumus testes" is the motto of Cologne Cardinal Rainer Maria Woelki, which he bears in his episcopal coat of arms. "We are witnesses," that is to say, a motto that these days has either a profound irony or an almost prophetic dimension, depending on one's spiritual taste.

What the cardinal has said and continues to say about his handling of sexual abuse has long since been adequately warranted by the sheer authority of his office or the moral integrity of his person. Far too many inconsistencies and contradictions have become visible for that.

What is true and what is false in the Archdiocese of Cologne can only be decided by a public and independent hearing of evidence, and that also means that insiders who have been silent for a long time dare to make a statement - just like Woelki himself can legitimately present his point of view. With the spectacular interview that the former diocese employee Hildegard Dahm gave the “Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger”, this crucial phase of the process has begun. In the Woelki case, the hour of the witnesses has come.

She could no longer stand "knowing things firsthand that contradict Cardinal Woelki's public statements," says Dahm. And refers above all to Woelki's statements on the case of the former Sternsinger boss Winfried Pilz, who died in 2019 and against whom there are several allegations of abuse. Woelki swore under oath that he was “dealt with” the Pilz case for the first time in June 2022.

His former employee now says: "That's not true," referring to an internal Excel list of abuse cases in the archdiocese. She personally created this list for Woelki in 2015, and the name Pilz was already on it. "Maybe he didn't look at the sheet with the mushroom and the other 13 names. But I dealt with it. Absolutely. That's why I was so appalled by the cardinal's public self-portrayal."

The Archdiocese of Cologne has so far been overwhelmed with these quotes. It is not yet possible to say whether and, if so, how one will react to the interview, the press office said on Wednesday morning. That sounds like: effective hit.

In fact, Dahm's statements represent a further heavy burden on the archbishop's credibility. And it will hardly stop there. As early as next week there is an explosive press law court hearing in Cologne, which will deal with Woelki's statements about another case, the case of Pastor D. There, too, there is a questionable affidavit from the cardinal, and insiders are also said to appear there.

Gisela Thörnig, the former secretary of Woelki's predecessor in office, Joachim Meisner, is expected to be a witness. It may be able to contribute some clarification, not only with a view to the D. case, but also in general: who, for example, kept the notorious file on the "Brothers in the Mist" in the era of Cologne Cardinal Meisner if not his then Secret Secretary Woelki? Woelki himself always asserted that he did not know such a folder at the time. What does Thornig say?

And so the wrangling in Cologne, which is so ruinous for the reputation of the church, can continue, unless either Pope Francis speaks a word of power or Woelki, which would be a miracle, changes his course.

Even if the cardinal in the Pilz case continues to try to legally save his wording that he was not “taken into custody” (so far he has been able to rely on the Samaritan-like leniency of the Cologne public prosecutor’s office), this strategy will eventually come to an end: the trust of the faithful he will not be able to win back as long as important backgrounds are veiled or withheld completely, such as the Excel list mentioned or the exact wording of his resignation request to Pope Francis, to name just two examples.

"It just had to come out now," says the witness Dahm in an interview. "I don't want people to come up to me later and ask me, 'You knew so much. Why didn't you say anything?'” It is an appeal that many in Cologne can feel addressed to. Not least the Archbishop himself.