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According to the renowned ecclesiastical historian Hubert Wolf, the Catholic Church has lost such credibility that it is hardly relevant in current debates. “The signs of the times urgently require an interpretation. But the church lacks credibility for this, ”wrote the Leibniz prize-winning professor from Münster in a guest article for the“ Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger ”.
It’s no wonder that almost nothing can be heard from the Church about the current challenges. “Because who wanted to believe the notorious liars?” Rather than shedding light, church officials are responsible for the blackout and cover-up, Wolf criticized in the face of the abuse scandal.
“To honestly recognize the signs of the times would be radical conversion and repentance; it would mean resignation and punishment of those responsible; it would mean effective reforms immediately, rather than raising false hopes for ‘Synodal Roads’ that have yet to reach a goal on Neverland Day. “
The theologian also criticized the actions of the Church in the Corona crisis. The church cares almost exclusively for itself here. “It’s about self-preservation, it’s about access conditions and seating arrangements for Christmas services, which of course are necessary in the pandemic.” This threatens to stifle the real message of the Christian gospel. Without immediate radical reform, the church “would degenerate into a fundamentalist sect.”
Also at the “Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger”, the former contact person for victims of sexual abuse in the Archdiocese of Cologne, Christa Pesch, said “shocked” and “stunned” about Cardinal Rainer Maria Woelki. The 74-year-old social worker contradicted Woelki’s account in the case of Pastor Johannes O.
Neither Woelki himself nor his predecessor, Cardinal Joachim Meisner, would have attempted to clarify the allegation that O. had raped a kindergarten girl in the 1970s. The victim reported the case to Pesch in 2010. In a note written to the archdiocese in 2011, indicated that the case must continue. The diocese “had done nothing.”
“I find it difficult to bear how the cardinal and the leadership of the diocese are now transferring responsibility from themselves and passing it on to others,” Pesch told the newspaper. According to the archbishopric, Cardinal Woelki was unable to do anything about it after taking office in 2014 because the parish priest, who was already seriously ill at the time, could no longer be heard.
The handling of allegations of sexual abuse of children and youth by priests in the Archdiocese of Cologne has been in the headlines for some time. Woelki had commissioned an expert opinion from a Munich law firm, but decided not to publish it once it was finalized. In return, he raised legal concerns. Instead, he commissioned a criminal lawyer in Cologne with a new report, which should be ready in March.
Cologne Mayor Henriette Reker (independent) said according to the report that the church that sends a moral message to the world must, of course, adhere to it. “I would have liked the archdiocese to handle the abuse report differently,” Reker said.
