BERLIN (AP) — German police and prosecutors searched Catholic Church properties on Tuesday in connection with a probe of the archbishop of Cologne in western Germany over perjury allegations, authorities said.The searches included the vicar general’s office and the premises of an IT company that provides email services to the archdiocese headed by Cardinal Rainer Maria Woelki. They also included Woelki’s home, German news agency dpa reported.
The cardinal is under investigation on suspicion of having falsely testified to court about when he became aware of reports of clergy sexual abuse in the archdiocese.
Thirty police officers and four prosecutors were involved in the raids Tuesday morning and confiscated documents, files and electronic data, Cologne Prosecutor Ulf Willuhn told reporters.
He said the material, which would take months to evaluate, was related to allegations regarding the cases of two clerics from the archdiocese. He declined to give further details about the cases.
“In terms of content, the main issue in each case is whether Cardinal Woelki had any knowledge at all, and if so, at what specific point in time, of allegations of abuse leveled against two clerics,” Willuhn said.
The Cologne archdiocese, which has more Catholics than any other in Germany, …
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The cardinal is under investigation on suspicion of having falsely testified to court about when he became aware of reports of clergy sexual abuse in the archdiocese.
Thirty police officers and four prosecutors were involved in the raids Tuesday morning and confiscated documents, files and electronic data, Cologne Prosecutor Ulf Willuhn told reporters.
He said the material, which would take months to evaluate, was related to allegations regarding the cases of two clerics from the archdiocese. He declined to give further details about the cases.
“In terms of content, the main issue in each case is whether Cardinal Woelki had any knowledge at all, and if so, at what specific point in time, of allegations of abuse leveled against two clerics,” Willuhn said.
The Cologne archdiocese, which has more Catholics than any other in Germany, …nnDiscussion:nn” ai_name=”RocketNews AI: ” start_sentence=”Can I tell you more about this article?” text_input_placeholder=”Type ‘Yes'”]