Cardinal Rainer Maria Woelki plans to take legal action after investigators searched his residence and other buildings of the Archdiocese of Cologne June 27, the KNA news agency reported.
Germany
Posted inFaith, News
A record half a million left the German Catholic Church last year
More than half a million people formally left the Catholic Church in Germany last year, significantly higher than the previous record as the church wrestles with a long-running scandal over abuse by clergy.
Posted inFaith, News
Benedict XVI’s secretary has been sent away from the Vatican, but his future is unclear
Speculation surrounding the return to Germany of Georg Gänswein is continuing unabated, not least because his status remains unclear now that he has been sent away from the Vatican.
Posted inFaith, News
New report: German Catholic Church faces major decline in membership, revenue
“It’s a fact that church attendance has strongly (been) reduced, with a significant and steady decline in priestly vocations and church membership, and an increasing loss of financial income.”
Posted inFaith, News
German court fines Jesuit priest over climate protest
The district court in Munich handed down its verdict in the case of the Rev. Joerg Alt after he participated in a road blockade in the Bavarian capital on Oct. 28.
Posted inFaith, Vatican Dispatch
Cardinal Müller calls blessing of homosexual couples ‘blasphemy’
In a new interview, Cardinal Gerhard Müller said Pope Francis should correct or punish German bishops for approving “proposals directly against the Catholic faith,” including blessings for homosexual couples.
Posted inNews, Politics & Society
German bishops vote in favor of blessing same-sex unions in the Catholic Church
Germany’s Catholic bishops and lay representatives agreed to call for the church in Germany to approve blessings of same-sex unions, despite Vatican statements.
Posted inFaith, News
Catholic Church in Germany has paid $43.5 million to more than 1,800 victims of abuse
The Catholic Church in Germany has so far paid more than $43.5 million (40 million euros) to victims of sexual abuse, German Catholic KNA agency has reported.
Posted inFaith, News
Pope Francis warns of elitist German synod process
The pope warned there’s a risk that a reform process in the German Catholic Church over calls for married priests and other possible liberalizing reforms might become harmfully “ideological.”
Posted inFaith, News
Vatican forbids church reforms in Germany that would limit authority of bishops
The Vatican has significantly limited the scope for church reforms in Germany. A letter from Rome which became public on Monday evening rejected the establishment of so-called Synodal Councils.