Protestors barricade the Vicariate General in Cologne

Protest against Woelki in Cologne Maria 2.0 blocks Vicariate General

Cologne General Vicariate Closed on Account of Moral Bankruptcy

Guerrilla action by Maria 2.0 at the Cologne Vicar General's Office 

With a symbolic cordoning off of the Archbishop's General Vicariate in Cologne's Marzellenstraße early Monday morning, the Catholic grassroots movement, Maria 2.0 denounced the behaviour of the Diocesan leadership following the latest revelations about Cardinal Rainer Woelki's PR strategy in the abuse scandal.

"The leadership of the archdiocese is failing morally across the board," said Maria 2.0 spokesperson Maria Mesrian.

With the evidence of a deliberate instrumentalisation of the affected Victims' Advisory Council to enforce Woelki's plans and the Cardinal's silence on this outrageous behaviour, a line has now once again been crossed." Like Cologne's City Deacon, Robert Kleine before her, Mesrian spoke of a "moral declaration of bankruptcy".

Protest action in Cologne: "Woelki is a bishop without a people".

With the action, he said, Maria 2.0 wanted on the one hand to denounce the hiding away of leading officials, but on the other hand also to stand as a representative for those in the Diocesan administration who are silenced in a climate of fear and uncontrolled power.

"We know how many upright Catholics in the services of the diocese suffer under their leadership," Mesrian said. He said the critical public statements by now almost half of the city and district deans and representatives of pastoral workers showed that the cardinal was increasingly isolated throughout the diocese. "Woelki is a bishop without a people." 

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