Pope francesco he ordered an apostolic visit (to begin mid-June) to the archdiocese of Cologne. The archbishopric, reports the Catholic agency Cna after the announcement of the apostolic nunciature in Berlin, he confirmed it at noon today. In the coming days, the “visitors”, that is, his envoys, will investigate the “possible errors” committed by the cardinal Rainer Maria Woelki, by the archbishop Stefan Hesse of Hamburg, as well as by the auxiliary bishops of Cologne Dominikus Schwaderlapp e Ansgar Puff in dealing with cases of sexual abuse. The apostolic visitors are the cardinal Anders Arborelius of Stockholm and the bishop Johannes van den Hende of Rotterdam, president of the Dutch bishops.
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As soon as the news spread, it was Woelki himself who said he welcomed “the Pope’s decision” and supported “with full conviction Cardinal Arborelius and Bishop van den Hende in their work.” The accusations were substantiated by the work of an independent commission that revealed the cover-up of sexual abuse that took place over the decades and, in particular, at the time when the diocese was headed by the cardinal Joachim Meisner, a personal friend of John Paul II and Benedict XVI. In particular, between 1975 and 2018, 202 attackers, almost two thirds of them priests, allegedly committed sexual abuse of at least 314 underage victims.
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Woelki acknowledged the “failure” of those who in the course of the history of the archdiocese have “prevented trials, protected the guilty, and above all showed little sensitivity towards the victims” and “unfortunately” recognized in particular the responsibility of his ” predecessors “.
Woelki, indicated by the German media as a conservative prelate, following the report of the independent commission fired the head of the archiepiscopal court, Guenter Assenmacher, and his auxiliary bishop, Dominikus Schwaderlapp. The latter, according to what the German press wrote, resigned in the hands of the Pope, and in a note asked “sincerely forgiveness from the people to whom I have not done justice”, admitting that he had paid “too little attention to how people feel wounded, at what they need and how the Church must deal with them ”.
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At the end of March, Francis granted a “break” to the archbishop of Hamburg, Stefan Hesse, after he had resigned in his hands. Hesse was vicar general under Joachim Meisner: “I am very sorry if I have caused further suffering to the victims and their relatives because of my actions or my negligence”, said the prelate. And again: “A few days ago I was able to celebrate the anniversary of my episcopal ordination on March 14, 2015 here in Hamburg. Francesco called me to this office. In order to avoid damage to the office of Archbishop and to the Archdiocese of Hamburg, I offer Pope Francis my resignation and ask him to immediately release me from my functions ”.
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