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Cardinal Rainer Maria Woelki at an Easter service (archive image).
Photo: Henning Kaiser / picture alliance / dpa
Cardinal Rainer Maria Woelki of Cologne has denied that he was critical of Pope Francis.
"It is far from my intention to portray the Holy Father as an old man who is out of touch with reality," said Woelki on Sunday of the German Press Agency in Cologne.
»On the contrary, I appreciate the Pope very much – especially his current peace policy commitment.«
Previously, several participants at a meeting of the diocesan pastoral council on Saturday in Düsseldorf unanimously reported that Woelki had described the pope as "old" and "out of touch with reality".
The quote was the same, it said again on Sunday from the group of participants.
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Time out from October to March
Woelki said that he openly and honestly described the background of his time off from October to March to the Diocesan Pastoral Council - its most important advisory body.
Before this break came, there was a conversation with him at the Bishops' Congregation, one of the most powerful authorities in the Vatican, which is responsible for all bishop's affairs.
There he was accused of "acting like a politician" in investigating the abuse scandal in the Archdiocese of Cologne.
In particular, he was accused of having put two employees on leave immediately after the presentation of the report on the handling of allegations of abuse by diocese officials.
"Who's supposed to understand that?"
However, he was told that the way of the church is different, namely that of prayer, penance and conversion.
That's why he, Woelki, has to go down this path now and take a longer break.
If he did that, the people in the Archdiocese of Cologne would appreciate this, would also embark on such a path and stretch out their hands to him.
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He then said: "Who should understand that?
That's completely unrealistic!' So he didn't mean the Pope, but the opinion of the Bishops' Congregation when he spoke of 'unrealistic', and one can understand that, said Woelki.
At the same time, he admitted that the idea for the break was not his.
But he supported the idea from the start.
No criticism of the Pope
The attribute “old” comes from a different context.
In February 2021, Pope Francis assured him in a conversation that he was fully behind him and that he was welcome to communicate this in the German media.
But he deliberately did not do that because he did not want to expect the pope, "this old man," to do the same.
He reported confidentially to the diocesan pastoral council, said Woelki.
So he did not criticize the Pope in any way, but on the contrary wanted to protect him.
mpz/dpa