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Protest against Cardinal Woelki in front of Cologne Cathedral
Photo: Oliver Berg / dpa
Cardinal Rainer Maria Woelki has offered the Pope his resignation after violent protests against his return as Archbishop of Cologne.
The Archdiocese announced that Francis would decide “in due course”.
First, however, Woelki took over the management of the largest German diocese on Wednesday after a five-month break.
The Central Committee of German Catholics (ZdK) welcomed the offer of resignation and called the step understandable.
"I see no basis for a new beginning and would like Pope Francis to recognize the seriousness of the situation and react as quickly as possible to the cardinal's willingness to resign," said ZdK President Irme Stetter-Karp to the editorial network Germany.
Then there would be a chance to finally rebuild trust in the archdiocese.
The Osnabrück bishop Franz-Josef Bode told the "Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung" that Cologne is no longer about dealing with processing, "but rather about the entire management style".
“Even the Pope named it – in Cologne, trust has been broken from the cathedral chapter to the church people,” said the deputy chairman of the German Bishops’ Conference.
The chairman of the conference, Bishop Georg Bätzing of Limburg, had previously pleaded for conversion, repentance and renewal in a guest article for the »Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger«.
A representative survey by the newspaper also showed that 82 percent of Catholics in the archdiocese rejected Woelki's return.
The chairman of the Cologne diocesan council, Tim Kurzbach, announced that the people in the archdiocese would not accept "business as usual" after Woelki's return.
"We clearly want a departure," he said on Deutschlandfunk.
It is not just about a single archbishop, but the church system.
»This system of church has no future«
"The vast majority - across all tendencies, from young to old - is clear: This system of church no longer has a future," said Kurzbach.
The current system is leading to a “meltdown in the Archdiocese of Cologne and beyond.”
Woelki has been criticized for dealing with the abuse scandal in the Archdiocese of Cologne, but was personally exonerated in a legal opinion.
The Pope has also left him in office so far, but acknowledged that he made "big mistakes", especially in his communication.
The cardinal announced in September that he would be taking a sabbatical, which he began in October.
Woelki cited a kind of burnout as the reason: "In fact, last October I reached a level of physical and mental exhaustion that made a break necessary." During his absence, hope was raised that the cardinal might not return and so that the situation relaxes.
In a letter to the faithful, the 65-year-old asked for a second chance.
He wants to try a new beginning: "I ask for your openness, your patience, that you give me, no, us, another chance." In the coming weeks and months he wants to seek encounters with as many people as possible to listen.
The first reactions to it were mostly critical.
Canon lawyer Thomas Schüller said that Woelki was now an “archbishop on probation or on call”.
The resulting state of uncertainty is basically an "imposition for Woelki, because he has to deliver something that he cannot do: the ability to dialogue, the gift of reconciliation and the request for forgiveness, which the faithful can relieve him of".
Another hanging game is expected of the believers.
Dechant sees dilemma for the archdiocese
Bonn City Dean Wolfgang Picken sees the Archdiocese of Cologne in a dilemma.
"On the one hand, from a Christian perspective, it's difficult to turn down the cardinal's requested opportunity," Picken said.
"On the other hand, it is clear to everyone that the prospects for good development do not appear favorable because the fronts are very hardened."
It is questionable whether clergy and believers are willing to get involved in such a process.
“One can only hope, therefore, that the Pope will make a decision soon.
The Archdiocese of Cologne is now between return and offer of resignation.
But it needs clarity and pacification,” Picken said.
Members of the Maria 2.0 reform movement protested in front of Cologne Cathedral on Wednesday against Woelki's return.
They carried banners with inscriptions such as "Away with the male clan" and "We no longer believe you".
Representatives of those affected also reacted angrily to the cardinal's return.
"Woelki not only made a 'communication error', he was the right hand of Cardinal Joachim Meisner - and doesn't want to have known anything about his folder 'Brüder im Nebel'?" asked Matthias Katsch, spokesman for the Eckiger Tisch association, looking at one Secret files on abuse cases.
Woelki had ordered a second legal opinion that "did not examine the liability of the cover-ups in detail," he explained.
"So we don't believe him anymore."
wit/dpa/AFP
