Germany's Roman Catholic archdiocese of Cologne held a service of penance on Thursday for cases of sexual abuse by clergy, saying the ritual was not an absolution for the perpetrators but a “confession of guilt.”
The German Catholic Church’s handling of sexual abuse reports has caused a crisis in Cologne, where the archbishop, Cardinal Rainer Maria Woelki, has taken a “spiritual timeout" on the advice of Pope Francis.
The archdiocese’s interim administrator, Auxiliary Bishop Rolf Steinhaeuser, led Thursday's service.
"A large number of crimes of sexualised violence against wards have been committed by priests and other church employees of our diocese,” Steinhaeuser said during the service at Cologne Cathedral.
The auxiliary bishop said that as
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