Archdiocese of Cologne defends itself against criticism of Cardinal Woelki – and declares war on journalists, "Enough is enough!"

An "open letter" from the Archbishop is directed personally against chief reporter Joachim Frank. Meanwhile, Woelki is losing a lot of respect in the city.

It is an unprecedented event: Cologne Archbishop has sharply attacked Frank Hüppelshäuser for the coverage of the "Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger" (KStA), specifically DuMont chief correspondent Joachim Frank, on the opening of the Archbishop's Education Campus in Cologne-Kalk. "Your reporting is inhumane!" This is stated in an "open letter" to the member of the daily newspaper's editorial board, which was published on the Archdiocese of Cologne's website on July 11.

See Cathcon report

Frank's intention was to "discredit, denigrate, and distort the public image" of the Archdiocese of Cologne and Cardinal Rainer Maria Woelki. What exactly the KStA's reporting is distorting is not clear from the "open letter." Furthermore, the head of the office suggests that Frank has both "more or less personal reasons" and "purely economic motives" for his reporting, which he describes as a "campaign."

Extensive research on the Archdiocese and the cardinal

Last but not least, it represents a "low point so far" that the journalist reports on individual employees of the Archdiocese of Cologne by name "under the pretext of being the guardian of tolerance." Hüppelshäuser canceled his KStA subscription after "more than 20 years" because he no longer wanted to pay for this journalism.

Frank has been reporting critically for many years about Cardinal Woelki, the Archdiocese of Cologne, and especially its handling of sexual violence. The journalist, who is also chairman of the Society of Catholic Journalists, has received numerous awards for his work, including the Wächter Prize of the German daily press. Hüppelshäuser took over the newly created position of Head of Office in the Archbishop's General Vicariate of the Archdiocese of Cologne in 2023. He is responsible for administration and reports directly to the archbishop. Previously, the economist held senior positions at major financial companies.

Several incidents involving rainbow symbols

Cardinal Woelki inaugurated the new Archbishop's Education Campus Cologne-Kalk at the beginning of last week. This is an inclusive school project in which the archdiocese invested 80 million euros. It is open to "children of all social and religious backgrounds," according to a press release. Nevertheless, according to a KStA report, the Archdiocese of Cologne allegedly asked employees not to wear rainbow symbols during the opening service and the ceremony. The authors, Joachim Frank and Uli Kreikebaum, quote the press spokesman for the Archdiocese of Cologne, Wolfram Eberhardt, as saying that they wanted to avoid "social controversies" on this occasion. This led to protests from parents.

Frank also reported on the case of a teacher at the Kardinal-Frings-Gymnasium in Bonn-Beuel. He allegedly wore a rainbow-colored sweater at the ceremony marking the 60th anniversary of the school's foundation stone laying last December in the presence of Cardinal Woelki. According to Frank, the teacher was then asked for a meeting by Thomas Kamphausen, the head of the department for privately run Catholic schools. The article quotes the department head as saying that the teacher had caused "significant damage" to the school and "lowered its reputation."

Protests against the diocese leadership

Last Saturday morning, the church reform initiative "Maria 2.0" and representatives of "Out in Church," among others, took the events at the opening of the educational campus as an opportunity to demonstrate against the diocese leadership in front of the south portal of Cologne Cathedral. The cardinal's tolerance ends "where queer people, where people's sexual self-determination, comes into play," according to theologian and "Maria 2.0" representative Maria Mesrian.

Surveys show a lack of trust

Meanwhile, the trust of Cologne's residents in their bishop is apparently at an all-time low. This is the result of a representative survey conducted by the Forsa polling institute on behalf of the KStA and the "Kölnische Rundschau" newspaper, the results of which were published on Monday: Only three percent of Cologne residents are satisfied with the cardinal's conduct in office. 83 percent of respondents stated they were "less or not at all satisfied." Only 14 percent were hesitant to pass judgment.

Such a result for a top personality has only been measured once before, namely for Cardinal Woelki himself in 2022, said Forsa head Manfred Güllner. Trust is particularly low among 16 to 29-year-olds: Zero per cent voted "satisfied" in this age group.

Source

The Letter

Open letter from Director of Office Frank Hüppelshäuser:

Criticism of reporting in the Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger

Date: July 11, 2025 From: Newsdesk

In response to the one-sided negative reporting by a journalist from the "Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger" about the educational campus and an employee of the Archbishop's General Vicariate, Director of Office Frank Hüppelshäuser responds decisively: Enough is enough, Mr. Frank!

Director of Office Frank Hüppelshäuser comments in an open letter on Joachim Frank's reporting in the Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger during the opening of the Archbishop's Educational Campus Cologne-Kalk:

Joachim Frank – Your reporting is contemptuous!

Mr. Frank, you have been striving for years to discredit and denigrate the Archdiocese of Cologne, with its bishop at its helm, and to distort its image in the public eye. This has become part of our everyday lives.

To what extent more or less personal reasons are driving this campaign is anyone's guess. Perhaps it's also purely economic, because, as we all know, money can be made primarily with "bad" news; at least, that's what you seem to believe.

It should be noted, however, that the Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger has lost a higher percentage of readers in the last 10 years than the Archdiocese of Cologne has lost Catholics.

The fact that you are now singling out individual employees of the Archdiocese, naming them, and accusing them, under the pretext of being the guardian of tolerance, represents the lowest point of your publications so far. You seem to be completely indifferent to the damage you cause to the people you publicly pillory. They cannot defend themselves and are at the mercy of your reporting. How you reconcile this with the journalistic principles and the Stadt-Anzeiger's actually high standards for fair and objective journalism is beyond me.

I am responsible for all non-pastoral employees in the Archdiocese of Cologne. And yes, mistakes do happen; that's part of our open and agile culture. We want to learn from them, every day.

This culture seems alien to you. Rather, your approach seems to be part of your strategy, which doesn't shy away from publicly discrediting employees of the Archdiocese of Cologne in order to damage the Church, and especially the Archdiocese of Cologne and its bishop, at every opportunity.

The Archdiocese of Cologne has invested approximately 80 million euros in the Kalk Education Campus to give students a good start in life. The fact that you completely neglect the opportunities for students and their families in your reporting to your agenda is, in my view, completely irresponsible from a journalistic perspective.

Mr. Frank: enough is enough. Thank God we live in a society where everyone can freely decide which newspaper to buy and what kind of journalism to support.

I made my decision some time ago and canceled my subscription after more than 20 years because I no longer wanted to pay for your journalism.

Frank Hüppelshäuser

Head of the Archdiocese of Cologne

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