Cologne (dpa/lnw) – Cologne Cardinal Rainer Maria Woelki has confirmed that he only learned of the allegations of abuse against former Sternsinger President Winfried Pilz at the end of June 2022. A spokesman for the Archdiocese said on Wednesday that Woelki had given another affidavit in a press law procedure that was currently underway. The “Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger” (Thursday edition) had previously reported.
It is about a list of perpetrators that the former assistant to the head of human resources in the archdiocese, Hildegard Dahm, claims to have created for Woelki in early 2015. Among the 14 names listed is said to have been that of Pilz. In an interview with the “Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger” in November, Dahm said that her boss had taken the list to a meeting with Woelki at the time. After the interview, the Cologne public prosecutor’s office initiated investigations against Woelki on suspicion of false affidavit.
In what is now the third insurance submitted, Woelki states that he cannot remember the list in question. “I can’t remember that I received this list, that I took note of this list, i.e. looked at it,” the newspaper said. So he couldn’t remember seeing the name Pilz there either.
