CNA Staff, Mar 30, 2020 / 11:00 am
Cardinal Rainer Maria Woelki of Cologne has opened the archdiocesan seminary to feed and shelter the homeless during the coronavirus pandemic. The seminary had been partly emptied due to renovation works and students were sent home and classes suspended in response to the COVID-19 outbreak.
The cardinal first announced the project on Sunday, March 29. "I have decided to open up our seminary for the homeless while our seminarians are gone due to the corona restriction," Woelki said on Sunday.
"We want to offer warm meals and access to restrooms and showers to those who have nobody to turn to these days in Cologne."
The seminary opened its ministry to the homeless on Monday, offering meals in a dining hall with 20 individual tables, so that those coming in could be served while still adhering to social distancing guidelines.