Cologne (dpa / lnw) - Six months after starting work, two members of the independent commission in the Archdiocese of Cologne to deal with sexualized violence left the committee. On Tuesday, the former state secretary in the NRW family ministry, Marion Gierden-Jülich, announced her resignation. The resignation of the chairman, Cologne lawyer Prof. Stephan Rixen, had already been announced the day before. Both had been sent by the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. The commission set up at the beginning of June has seven members. Two were named by the Advisory Board and three by the Archdiocese.
"The situation in the archdiocese is such that we cannot do our work in peace," Gierden-Jülich told the "Kölnische Rundschau" (Wednesday). She has complete confidence in the work of the other commission members. "But the special situation in the Archdiocese of Cologne makes a constructive and factual discussion in the process of coming to terms with it almost impossible," said Gierden-Jülich in a personal statement published by the Archdiocese on Tuesday.
Points of contention in the archdiocese include dealing with allegations of abuse and a church university sponsored by Cologne Cardinal Rainer Maria Woelki.
