As a consequence of the Cologne report, Auxiliary Bishop Ansgar Puff has asked Cologne Archbishop Rainer Maria Cardinal Woelki for a temporary release from his duties. In the interview he explains this step.
Interviewer: You have asked the archbishop to release you from your duties. Why?
Auxiliary Bishop Ansgar Puff (auxiliary bishop in Cologne): It is about the study, which was published yesterday by the law firm "Gercke / Wollschlager". This is about coming to terms with sexual abuse. I am named in it. Not by name, but I was responsible for a year in the personnel department. During that time, as it has now been established, I committed a breach of duty in the area of the duty of clarification.
I have always said in the past, when I have searched my conscience, that I think I did not make any mistakes at that time. But I have always amed that an external investigation is needed to make it clear whether mistakes have perhaps been made. I am also grateful for this external investigation.
Now a mistake of mine has come to light. I am infinitely sorry. I apologize. I acted at that time out of juridical ignorance, or too little knowledge. I am sorry for that, and that is now the reason why I have asked the cardinal to leave my duties for the time being, until that can be evaluated.
Interviewer: Many voices now speak of the fact that a legal reappraisal is not enough. The church has higher, also moral, demands, he said. How do you evaluate this??
Puff: Yes, that is true. I am not at all concerned with legal matters. It is not a question for me that now a mistake has been proven, that I have come out of the woodwork and covered up something before.
What matters to me is that I really want to work as a pastor. I have high moral standards for myself and others.
What does moral mean? I want to live the way Jesus said I would. I must now check for myself whether I am living what Jesus said and did or whether I am lagging behind. This commitment is the first thing I have to clarify for myself, and that is what I would like to do in the near future.
Interviewer: Is it important for that that you are a bishop or can you be a pastor again, like before??
Poof: This leave of absence concerns the function. I may continue to celebrate Holy Mass, and I will continue to do so. I am grateful for this task of auxiliary bishop that the Pope has entrusted to me, try to do it also with the best of conscience.
But I am a pastor at heart. Being a pastor is something more, or different, than being a bishop. To put it casually: Even if I could no longer work as a bishop, I would find enough opportunities where I could also pastor poor people. I hope that the good Lord can still use me then.
The interview was conducted by Ingo Bruggenjurgen.