View of the Cologne Cathedral © Manninx (shutterstock)
A retired clergyman, who last worked as a subsidiary in a pastoral area of the Archdiocese of Cologne, took his own life last weekend. The archdiocese had relieved him of his duties four days earlier.
The parish priest was forbidden to exercise his priestly ministry and to have contact with children and minors. He was suspected of sexual abuse of a boy who was underage at the time of the crime, which the retired clergyman is alleged to have committed in the 1990s. When handing over the decree, the archdiocese had offered pastoral and psychological support to the Subsidiar.
The person concerned, who accuses the retired clergyman of sexual abuse, had turned to the Archdiocese of Cologne at the end of December 2020. In order to clarify the matter, the Archbishopric of Cologne initiated the prescribed preliminary investigation under canon law in January 2021, which included a detailed conversation with the person concerned, which took place in mid-January.
The entire case was finally brought to light on 3. February 2021 forwarded to Bonn public prosecutor's office with request for legal examination and initiation of necessary steps.
Full clarification
The pastors of the parishes in which the retired priest had been active during his priestly ministry have been informed of the accusations. The Archdiocese of Cologne takes every case or suspicion of sexual abuse and sexualized violence very seriously. Even though the accused priest has since died, the Archdiocese of Cologne will continue to investigate the case and fully clarify it.
It is important to the Archdiocese of Cologne to provide the necessary help and support to each individual potentially affected person. Therefore, this coming weekend (27./28.02.) published calls at all previous locations of the priest to encourage possible further affected to come forward to the archdiocese.