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Cologne (dpa) - Cardinal Rainer Maria Woelki from Cologne denies having promoted a pastor in 2017, although he knew of allegations of abuse against him.
"The claim that the cardinal promoted a priest in Düsseldorf who confessed to child abuse is wrong," said the Archdiocese of Cologne on Tuesday.
"As far as we know today, the cardinal never promoted a priest who, under the then applicable law, was involved in child abuse."
The «Bild» newspaper had previously reported that Woelki had promoted a pastor to deputy city dean of Düsseldorf in 2017, who had previously been accused of having sex with minors.
Woelki also knew about this.
A city dean is the highest Catholic representative in the city.
"Bild" reports, referring to the abuse reports of the law firms Westpfahl Spilker Wastl and Gercke, that the pastor was
blackmailed in
2001 by a then 17-year-old prostitute
.
In a police interrogation, the pastor confessed to having sex with the homeless and underage Cologne resident.
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The Archdiocese of Cologne announced: “The pastor was appointed one of the two deputies in 2017 on the express recommendation of the then city dean.
At this point in time, only one non-criminal incident from 2001 was clearly documented.
In addition, a psychological report was obtained, which attested him unrestricted employability in pastoral care. "
At the end of last year, the Archdiocese of Cologne gained new insights into an allegation against the Düsseldorf pastor from 1995.
In January of this year, the case was handed over to the Düsseldorf public prosecutor.
The pastor is on leave until the allegations have been clarified.
A spokesman for the Düsseldorf public prosecutor said on Tuesday that the 1995 allegation against the pastor was statute-barred and the investigations against him had therefore been closed.
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© dpa-infocom, dpa: 210427-99-376535 / 2
Press release Archdiocese of Cologne