WASHINGTON (DC)
Catholic News Service
November 19, 2020
Munich – The two abuse survivors who resigned as spokesmen of the victims’ advisory board in the Cologne Archdiocese have accused Cardinal Rainer Maria Woelki of a “renewed abuse of abuse victims.”
The board had been “completely overrun” by Cardinal Woelki’s treatment of the Cologne abuse studies, Patrick Bauer told the Süddeutsche Zeitung newspaper in comments published Nov. 19.
“We were meant to deliver the certificate: approved by the advisory board,” said Karl Haucke.
The German Catholic news agency KNA reported that at the end of October, the archdiocese had announced in a joint statement with the victims’ advisory board that the abuse report compiled by a Munich law firm would not be published due to alleged deficiencies, and that Cologne-based criminal law expert Björn Gercke would conduct a new investigation.
The Christ & World supplement of the newspaper Die Zeit cited the unpublished abuse report and said it accused former Cologne cardinals Joseph Höffner and Joachim Meisner of mistakes in handling an abuse case. There is also renewed public debate about the behavior of the Archbishop Stefan Hesse of Hamburg, former head of personnel of the Cologne Archdiocese.
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