No investigations against Cardinal Rainer Maria Woelki: In connection with possible criminal omissions in dealing with a convicted abuser in the Archdiocese of Cologne, the public prosecutor’s office has exonerated the archbishop.
As the diocese announced on Wednesday, the initiation of preliminary proceedings against Woelki and his former vicar general Markus Hofmann was rejected. The public prosecutor’s office stated that there was no initial suspicion.
In connection with the case of priest Hans Bernhard U., who was convicted of abuse, more than 30 reports from all over Germany were received by the public prosecutor. These were directed against Cardinal Woelki and other diocese officials. The archbishop and his former head of administration now see themselves as “completely exonerated” by the public prosecutor’s decision.
