CNA Newsroom, Aug 21, 2023 / 11:45 am
Cardinal Rainer Maria Woelki expressed profound disappointment over an internal IT report finding that employees in his Archdiocese of Cologne had attempted to access pornographic websites.
“To some, the consumption of pornography may seem harmless. But I stand firmly with Pope Francis, who unequivocally condemns it and warns of its insidious dangers, particularly the egregious violation of human dignity,” Woelki said, according to CNA Deutsch, CNA’s German-language news partner.
“Upon learning of this unsettling news, I immediately called for a thorough examination of the incidents and insisted they be addressed in strict accordance with legal regulations,” the German prelate said in a public statement.
German media outlets reported that the archdiocese’s internal investigation exonerated the cardinal, confirming he was not among the “users of the incriminated sites.”