Cologne Catholic sex abuse probe seen as cover-up
Germany s secular panel on sexualized violence against children says Cologne s Catholic archdiocese has severely damaged moves to own up to its abusive past.
Cologne s archbishopric severely damaged the process of owning up to decades of sexualized violence against children in its ranks as demanded by victims and lay Catholics, a top secular German panel found on Monday.
The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse a commission mandated by parliament since 2016 to probe cases across German society decried the diocese s own internal review, saying this must be done instead by outsiders.
Its statement coincided Monday with Munich lawyers refuting a claim by Cologne Archbishop Rainer Maria Woelki that their report, delivered to him last year but kept secret, only examined 15 selected cases out of all 236 available cases.