Abuse scandal in the church: Woelki takes action against the media and canonists

For years, critics have accused Cardinal Woelki of covering up abuse in the Catholic Church.

Abuse scandal in the church: Woelki takes action against the media and canonists

For years, critics have accused Cardinal Woelki of covering up abuse in the Catholic Church. Among them is church law expert Schüller, who in a media report accuses Woelki of violating official duties. Now the cardinal is launching a legal counterattack.

The Cologne Cardinal Rainer Maria Woelki is taking legal action against one of his toughest critics, the canon lawyer Thomas Schüller. A spokeswoman for the district court in Cologne said he had also applied for an injunction against the "Bild" newspaper.

The background to the proceedings are allegations of abuse against the former president of the Catholic carol singers, Winfried Pilz (1940-2019). Woelki's predecessor, Cardinal Joachim Meisner, had forbidden Pilz contact with minors in 2014. After Pilz's death in 2019, the Archdiocese of Cologne nevertheless published an exuberant obituary for the clergyman who wrote the famous hymn "Laudato si".

In an affidavit, Woelki states that he was never involved in the Pilz case until June 2022. Therefore, the accusation that he should have informed the diocese of Dresden-Meissen, where he spent the rest of his life, about the allegations against Pilz is unjustified. Church lawyer Schüller had told the "Bild" newspaper that it was a breach of duty that Woelki had not taught the people of Dresden earlier. "Bild" had reported that mushroom at Woelki was "under monument protection" because of its prominence.

A "Bild" spokesman said: "If Cardinal Woelki had given an affidavit stating that he had not been involved with the Winfried Pilz case until the end of June 2022, we do not consider this to be credible. But we know that that Cardinal Woelki had already given an insufficient and dubious affidavit in other proceedings at the Cologne Regional Court. Should this be repeated in further proceedings, we will consider criminal proceedings." One will not be dissuaded from further research into responsibility for the cruel crimes of abuse of minors.