Cardinal Woelki’s return to the Archdiocese of Cologne has been announced for today. The opposition to him there is enormous. But going it alone has never frightened the conservative churchman.
Despite massive protests, Cardinal Rainer Maria Woelki apparently wants to return to his office as Archbishop of Cologne this Wednesday. He was sent on a five-month sabbatical by the Pope in September.
On Tuesday, the head of administration of the diocese, Vicar General Markus Hofmann, announced in an internal message to all employees that Woelki would take over management again on Wednesday.
Originally, Woelki wanted to celebrate a mass in Cologne Cathedral in the morning, the traditional “Ash Wednesday of Artists”. But then he canceled the appointment. The Archdiocese announced that he did not want this event to be “overshadowed by the current ecclesiastical tensions”. However, the artists had also signaled that they did not want to perform with Woelki. Now only a press release and a pastoral letter from Woelki have been announced by the Archdiocese.
resistance to the cardinal
Pope Francis sent Woelki on a five-month break in September after accusing him of “big mistakes”. It is unclear what the Vatican has promised itself from this break. Woelki triggered a crisis of confidence in 2020 when he decided not to publish an expert opinion from the Westpfahl Spilker Wastl law firm on how diocese officials deal with allegations of sexual abuse. He cited legal reasons.
After that, the relationship between Woelki and the bodies of the Archdiocese continued to deteriorate. This not only had to do with Woelki’s very conservative basic attitude – he rejects the current reform process in the Catholic Church, the synodal path – but above all with his brusque and suspicious manner. Woelki not only brought reform-oriented bishops by going it alone on important issues , deans (regional heads) and pastors are against themselves, but also those who are more conservative. It is often said that working with him is simply not possible. All committees of the Archdiocese have signaled more or less clearly that they can no longer imagine a future with Woelki.
The picture is even clearer when it comes to believers. The number of people leaving the church in Cologne has skyrocketed. According to a Forsa survey commissioned by the “Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger”, 92 percent of Catholics in the archdiocese want Woelki to resign. 82 percent believe that the Pope should depose him.
When asked by the German Press Agency whether it would not be better for the archbishopric if he resigned and made a new start possible, Woelki replied last August: “Running away is not a solution. In a family or among friends, you don’t just part when things get difficult. You struggle and try to find solutions. The challenges would remain the same with another archbishop.”
Source: Stern
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