1. Rainer Woelki has been Archbishop of Cologne since his installation on 20 September 2014 following his election by the Cathedral Chapter to succeed Joachim Meisner in that position.
24 Facts About Rainer Woelki
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Rainer Woelki studied philosophy and theology at the Theological Faculties of the universities of Bonn and Freiburg im Breisgau.
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Rainer Woelki was consecrated on 30 March 2003 by Cardinal Joachim Meisner.
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Rainer Woelki chose as his episcopal motto "Nos sumus testes", from Acts 5:32.
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Rainer Woelki was appointed a consultor of the Holy See's Congregation for Catholic Education.
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Rainer Woelki has been criticised by some German politicians for his language on homosexuality, which has led them to question his suitability for the post of archbishop in a city with a significant gay population.
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Rainer Woelki was installed as archbishop of Berlin and took formal possession of his see on 27 August 2011.
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On 6 January 2012, the Vatican announced that Rainer Woelki would be created a cardinal on 18 February along with 21 others.
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Rainer Woelki was created Cardinal-Priest of San Giovanni Maria Vianney, becoming the youngest member of the College of Cardinals, in succession to Reinhard Marx of Munich.
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Rainer Woelki was appointed a member of the Congregation for Catholic Education in addition to his duties in Berlin.
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In October 2012 Rainer Woelki was nominated for a Respect Award by the Alliance Against Homophobia.
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Rainer Woelki was praised by the group for speaking out in favour of a "new cooperation with homosexuals in society" and officially meeting the Association for Gays and Lesbians for talks.
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In December 2012 Rainer Woelki unveiled a reorganisation in a pastoral letter for Advent to 105 local parishes.
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Rainer Woelki added that the archdiocese was forecast to lose a further third of its membership by 2030, and he said Catholic schools, nurseries, hospitals, elderly homes and information centers would be reorganised to reflect this shift.
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Rainer Woelki was one of the cardinal electors who participated in the 2013 papal conclave that elected Pope Francis.
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On 11 July 2014 it was announced that Rainer Woelki would succeed Joachim Meisner as archbishop of Cologne.
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In 2023, Cardinal Rainer Woelki was one of four German bishops who voted against providing funding for the synod committee that is preparing to introduce a permanent German synodal council to oversee the Church.
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Rainer Woelki decided in 2015 not to reopen the case and notify Rome of it because of the "bad health of the priest" involved and because the "victim refused to offer testimony".
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In December 2020, Schuller called upon Rainer Woelki to resign for misrepresenting the victim's position in this way.
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Johannes-Wilhelm Rorig, appointed by the Federal Ministry of Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth to fight child abuse, made the criticism in 2020 that the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cologne led by Rainer Woelki was the only one that was not making progress.
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Rainer Woelki justified his refusal to release the report by saying there had been problems in the methodology of its preparation, but did not specify what problems he was asserting had existed.
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Rainer Woelki commissioned a second report, which was made public in March 2021.
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Rainer Woelki dismissed the legal counsel of his Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cologne because she took her office chair home at the beginning of the corona pandemic.
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On 2 March 2022, Rainer Woelki again offered his resignation to the pope.