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According to a report in the "Zeit" supplement "Christ und Welt" (Thursday), Hebe is said to have been rashly convinced of the innocence of an accused priest during his time as head of personnel in the archdiocese of Cologne and not to have believed the account of a person concerned.

According to the report, in 2011 a man undergoing psychiatric treatment for bipolar disorder contacted Christina Pesch, the then victims' representative of the archdiocese of Cologne, and stated that he had been abused in the years 1968 to 1972 by the now deceased priest F. sexual abuse and rape, which was published on. Hebe is said to have then held a conversation with the man concerned and his lawyer and, a little later, to have also informed Rev. F. Have questioned about the allegations, which he had denied. Shortly thereafter, Hebe had told Pesch that there was no connection to the accusations against F. there is nothing to it. Also the lawyer of the concerning had been informed some time after the discussion by telephone by the archbishopric that the reproaches could not have been corroborated.

The mood among the 300 delegates from all 27 dioceses and many areas of church life was much more diffuse. But the bishops had resolved that they would not go home with the accusation that they had not delivered anything. They have succeeded in doing that.

Zandile Mkhize's day begins at six o'clock in the morning – at the latest. The 30-year-old is a single mother, studies social and community development by distance learning and works as a social worker. At the Siqalakabusha center in the township of Kwa Mashu near Durban, everything actually crosses her desk: the monthly statistics for the local authorities, the files of patients cared for at home, the lists of families provided with food aid. Social work in Kwa Mashu – it requires strong nerves and a lot of commitment. The township is one of the largest in South Africa and a notorious one. Poverty, robbery, murder, sexual violence are the names of the problems, as well as, and above all, HIV and Aids.

The cathedral conductor of the Regensburg Cathedral Boys' Choir, Roland Buchner, has made serious accusations against his predecessor in office, Georg Ratzinger. "There was a system of fear," Buchner told the weekly newspaper "Die Zeit" about the Pope's brother's time as choir director. "This must come to light, even if it hurts," demanded Buechner, who has been a choir director since 1994.

Meeting of the World Council of Churches in November 1961 in New Delhi © KNA

When Pope Francis visits the World Council of Churches (WCC, also known as the World Council of Churches) in Geneva on Thursday, he will also be creating the climax of celebrations marking its 70th anniversary. And thus contributes significantly to the fact that this anniversary is perceived at all – because the community of now 348 churches has been in a crisis for years.

Shadow of a cross © Harald Oppitz (KNA)

The reason is "serious allegations of abuse" against the former country director, a Belgian priest, the British BBC reported Saturday. The UN said it was pursuing a zero-tolerance policy in matters of abuse. In its own statement, Caritas Internationalis expressed "our sympathy" to the victims of abuse and announced investigations.

Energetic: Pope Francis © Vincenzo Pinto

He said this Thursday to staff of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, which is responsible for such procedures.

At the same time, he encouraged the curia authority to revise the norms in question. Legal procedures need to become more effective and organic, Francis said. Currently, the Vatican is working to merge the various laws and decrees on how to deal with sexual abuse and cover-ups.

The deputy chairman of the Council of the Protestant Church in Germany, Bishop Christoph Kahler, has praised Cardinal Karl Lehmann's opening address at the beginning of the fall plenary meeting of the German Bishops' Conference as an "ecumenical boon". Cardinal Lehmann had defined the self-understanding of the Catholic following the texts of Vatican II. The bishops interpreted Vatican II in such a way that there is room for "a very fundamental recognition of the authentic ecclesial reality" of the non-Catholic churches.

Bode told the Catholic News Agency (KNA) in Osnabruck on Friday. "It could be made clear in other ways that the absence of women would also hit the celebration of the Eucharist hard."Such actions endangered a "differentiated, objective discussion," said Bode, who is chairman of the Bishops' Conference's sub-commission "Women in Church and Society".

Against the backdrop of ongoing demands for reform, Osnabruck Bishop Franz-Josef Bode calls for a church that is credible, transparent and responsive to people (Video). "Only a church that is pure of heart, that looks at its cards and is transparent, loud and without double standards, that faces reality, will regain trust," Bode said Wednesday morning in a homily to German Catholic bishops in Lingen.