The Latest Breaking News from Rainer Maria Woelki

Catholic priests have held a ceremony blessing same-sex couples in defiance of a German archbishop

Several Catholic priests have held a ceremony blessing same-sex couples outside Cologne cathedral in a protest against the city’s conservative archbishop Cardinal Rainer Maria Woelki

The Independent UK · Sep 20, 2023

German archbishop 'disappointed' by diocese employees' attempts to access porn

The archbishop of Cologne, one of Germany’s most important Catholic dioceses, has expressed disappointment that employees used work computers to try to access pornographic websites

The Independent UK · Aug 18, 2023

German Catholic church ‘dying painful death’ as 520,000 leave in a year

Speed of departures has been driven by series of child abuse scandals and accusations of a cover-up

The Guardian - UK · Jun 29, 2023

Prosecutors to investigate possible perjury charge against German cardinal

German prosecutors are due to investigate whether Cardinal Rainer Maria Woelki, one of the German Catholic Church's most senior clerics, perjured himself earlier this year in sworn testimony about abuse committed by a now dead priest.

Reuters · Nov 9, 2022

Pope says traditionalist Catholics "gag" church reforms

Pope Francis has complained that traditionalist Catholics are “gagging” the church’s modernizing reforms and insisted that there was no turning back

The Independent UK · Jun 14, 2022

German archbishop offers resignation on return from timeout

A prominent Roman Catholic archbishop who faced strong criticism for his handling of the church’s sexual abuse scandal in Germany says he has offered his resignation to Pope Francis

The Independent UK · Mar 2, 2022

Cologne archbishop offers resignation over abuse scandals

The Archbishop of Cologne, Cardinal Rainer Maria Woelki, said he offered his resignation to the Pope during the break from his duties he took after criticism of how he dealt with Church abuse scandals, but the Pope has yet to decide on his offer.

Reuters · Mar 2, 2022