Pope Francis on Friday ordered a review of the Catholic Church in Cologne in the wake of a scandal triggered by criticism of the church’s handling of sex abuse by priests in the west German city.
The pope plans to dispatch a so-called apostolic visitation to Germany’s largest diocese next month to investigate “possible errors” undertaken by Cologne Cardinal Rainer Maria Woelki in handling the claims of sexual misconduct.
Earlier this year, Woelki refused to resign following the publication of an independent and highly critical report over the sex abuse cases, which accused…
