Police probing Cardinal Rainer Maria Woelki storm Archdiocese of Cologne

 

COLOGNE – Buildings of the archdiocese of Cologne were searched on Tuesday morning as part of a perjury investigation against Cardinal Rainer Maria Woelki.

The public prosecutor’s office and the Cologne police said they were looking for documents related to statements made by Woelki in which he is accused of not having told the truth.

According to the investigators, among other things, rooms of the General Vicariate, the diocesan ecclesiastical court and the Archbishop’s House were searched, as well as the offices of the IT service provider who manages the archdiocese’s email traffic.

In addition to Cologne, premises in the German cities of Kassel and Lohfelden in the state of Hesse were also searched. The operation was said to have proceeded without incident and had largely met with cooperation.

Criminal investigations are under way against Cardinal Woelki on suspicion of perjury and false unsworn testimony in relation to statements regarding the question of when he became aware of abuse allegations in his archdiocese.

In a criminal complaint filed by a private individual, he is accused of having made false statements in a sworn statement before the Cologne Regional Court in March. Woelki has denied all the accusations.