VATICAN SENDS INSPECTORS TO PROBE COLOGNE CHURCH SEX SCANDAL

Pope Francis stepped into the crisis that has engulfed the Catholic Church in Cologne by ordering a review of the west German city's handling of a sex abuse scandal, Andrew McCathie and Christoph Driessen reported for Deutsche Presse-Agentur (dpa).

The pope plans to dispatch a so-called apostolic visitation to Germany's largest diocese next month to investigate "possible errors" carried out by Cologne Cardinal Rainer Maria Woelki in handling the claims of sexual misconduct by priests.

"The pope wants more information, more material to decide," Rome-based Vatican expert Marco Politi told dpa.

The extraordinary papal move at least temporarily threatens to undermine Woelki's power in the 1,700-year-old Cologne Church, with the Vatican News portal reporting that he "no longer was allowed to make decisions independently."

Earlier this year, Woelki refused to resign following the publication of an independent and highly critical report on the sex abuse cases, which accused him of breaches of duty. He was later acquitted.

The scandal has already led to 14 of the 15 district and city deans demanding that Woelki face "personal consequences." Instead, Woelki has insisted that he planned to improve measures at the church to ensure there were no further mistakes.

He has also admitted to not acting early enough on the allegations of sexual abuse by clergy, with the scandal having prompted a wave of departures of members of Cologne Church. Others have taken to the streets to demonstrate. Woelki greeted the investigation later on Friday, in a video message, calling the reappraisal "good and right."

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