Cardinal Wetter questioned by police as suspect

According to a media report, the former Archbishop of Munich, Friedrich Wetter, was questioned by the public prosecutor's office as a suspect.

Wetter did not comment to the newspaper.

The Public Prosecutor's Office and the Archdiocese of Münster were not available for inquiries on Sunday.

According to a report, the former Archbishop of Munich, Friedrich Wetter, was questioned by the Public Prosecutor's Office as a suspect. The "Süddeutsche Zeitung" reports on the Internet that it is about an investigation into the abuse scandal: "Such a procedure against a former Archbishop should be a novelty." Cardinal Wetter was Archbishop of Munich and Freising from 1982 to 2008.

The focus is on "Case 26" from the abuse report for the Archdiocese and thus a cleric convicted in 1962, it said. The Public Prosecutor's Office is "investigating the suspicion that former church officials in the Archdiocese of Munich and Freising could have reinstated a priest who had previously been convicted of sexual abuse of children as a pastor and did not prevent him from contacting children again."

Prosecutor's Office and Archdiocese not available on Sunday

The Bavarian Ministry of Justice informed the FDP MP Matthias Fischbach on March 7th. "It is not known whether the investigation into the 95-year-old Wetter is still ongoing or has already ended," the report said. Wetter did not want to comment on the newspaper. He said through his secretary that he had already "told everything" to the judiciary.

The Public Prosecutor's Office could not be reached for an inquiry on Sunday, nor could the Archdiocese. According to the report, the public prosecutor's office wants to present the results of their investigations against Catholic leaders, which resulted from the abuse report, to journalists on Tuesday.

Prior search

Three weeks ago it became known that the police and the Public Prosecutor's Office had apparently searched rooms in the Archdiocese of Munich as part of investigations into the abuse scandal. The formal occasion is said to have been "Case 26". It was said that the judiciary had no suspicion against the incumbent Archbishop Reinhard Marx.

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