The Cologne public prosecutor’s office has opened a second formal investigation against Cologne Cardinal Rainer Maria Woelki. As the authority informed WELT on Wednesday, it sees an initial suspicion that the cardinal had submitted a false affidavit about the case of Pastor D. There were “sufficient factual indications of the existence of a criminal offense under Section 156 of the Criminal Code,” it said. Two weeks ago, the public prosecutor’s office had already started investigations into another statement by Woelki. If convicted, he faces a fine or up to three years in prison.
The new procedure relates to the case of Pastor D. The pastor is said to have masturbated with a 16-year-old prostitute in 2001, for which he was admonished by the Archdiocese of Cologne. In the years that followed, further allegations against D. were received in the archdiocese. They mostly related to the time before 2001. Some of them also dealt with allegedly sexually motivated acts in front of minors, such as watching porn together under the influence of alcohol. In 2017, Woelki promoted D. to Deputy City Dean.
When asked to what extent he was already aware of its history, Woelki declared on May 6, 2021 as part of a press law procedure against Axel Springer SE (to which WELT also belongs): “I had heard about this process that Pastor D. was said to have had contact with a prostitute in 2001, i.e. 16 years before the decision to appoint him. There were also other rumors surrounding the pastor. When I inquired with the officials campaigning for the appointment of the pastor, I was assured that none of these rumors had ever been confirmed.”
He, Woelki, was told that there was nothing concrete against D. and that he was doing a good job. “At the time of the appointment decision in 2017, I was not aware of Pastor D.’s personal file. I didn’t have them shown to me because it was and is usual for the files to be kept in the HR department and evaluated by them.”
Last week, on the other hand, the long-time secretary of Woelki’s predecessor, Joachim Meisner, made a statement before the Cologne district court that raised doubts about Woelki’s portrayal. The 72-year-old had stated that she had already informed Woelki by telephone about alleged misconduct by D. when he was auxiliary bishop of Cologne (until 2011).
She reported to Woelki that D. kept getting pushy towards young people. On a trip to Rome, D. and a group of altar boys “bought underwear with a penis and everything on it”. He also goes to the sauna with altar boys, D. told her that herself. At some point she went over to accompanying D. on trips, “if he then became a bit lewd again with the young people, so that I could say something to him admonishingly”.
Woelki’s affidavit has raised questions for a long time. As WELT AM SONNTAG reported in September, Woelki received an anonymous letter in 2010, also during his time as auxiliary bishop, containing allegations against D. In 2015, the Archdiocese even initiated an official guideline procedure in which D. was heard as the “accused” on Woelki’s instructions. D. denied all allegations, but consequences were still drawn: D. agreed to stay away from child and youth work in the future.