Pope Francis Orders Apostolic Visitation for the Archdiocese of Cologne, Germany







Bishops of Stockholm and Rotterdam are investigating the situation in the Archdiocese in Germany. 

The Archdiocese of Cologne announced on Friday that Pope Francis has ordered an apostolic visitation of the Archdiocese of Cologne. To this end, the Holy Father has appointed His Eminence Anders Cardinal Arborelius OCD, Bishop of Stockholm, and His Excellency Monsignor Johannes van den Hende, Bishop of Rotterdam and Chairman of the Dutch Bishops' Conference, as Apostolic Visitators.
During the first half of June, the ambassadors of the Holy See will get a comprehensive picture of the complex pastoral situation in the Archdiocese and at the same time see if any mistakes were made by His Eminence Cardinal Woelkis and the Archbishop of Hamburg, HE Mons. Stefan Heße and the auxiliary bishops, SE Mons. Dominikus Schwaderlapp and Mos. Investigate Ansgar Puff in dealing with sexual abuse cases.
Rainer Maria Cardinal Woelki explains this: "In February I already informed the Holy Father in Rome comprehensively about the situation in our Archdiocese. I welcome the fact that the Pope is getting his own picture of the independent investigation and the consequences of it with the Apostolic Visit I will support Cardinal Arborelius and Bishop van den Hende in their work with full conviction.

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