Over a dozen clergy and staff of the Archdiocese of Cologne in Western Germany attempted to browse pornographic websites on church-supplied computers, said news reports.
And at least one senior clergy member was among the 15 employees identified, reported local media Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger newspaper.
From end May 2022 to end June 2022, the cybersecurity team for the archdiocese gathered data, said the report.
There were around “1,000 access attempts to pages that were blocked by a protective filter because of questionable, undesirable content and potential threats to IT security” within a one-month period, it added.
The newspaper also said that the majority of the suspicious activity concerned pornographic sites.
The diocese leadership was informed about the activities as early as July 2022, it added.
Even if such activities are not punishable under either state or church law, they are not permitted as part of the labour agreement with the archdiocese, reported German news outlet DW News.
Pornography is considered a grave sin and reprehensible Catholic sexual morality, added the report.
In the report, the Archdiocese of Cologne explained to the Catholic News Agency that the church also monitors IT security, including “checking whether the firewalls reliably fend off attempts to access sites that pose a risk in terms of IT security”.
In a statement, the Archbishop of Cologne, Cardinal Rainer Maria Woelki, expressed his dismay at the findings.
“It disappointed me that employees tried to access pornographic pages with the help of devices that our archdiocese made available for their work - even though the firewalls kicked in,” Cardinal Woelki said.
“To some, the consumption of pornography may appear harmless,” he added. “But I agree with Pope Francis, who condemns it and warns of its dangers, in particular the violation of human dignity.”
The revelation is part of a growing list of scandals which involve the Cologne archdiocese. In June, the Archdiocese of Cologne was ordered to pay €300,00 (S$444,000) in damages by a German regional court over sex abuse cases.
