Priests and staff of the Archdiocese of Cologne tried to view pornographic content on the Internet using business computers, the archbishop confirmed.
German media reported that during the archdiocese's monthly IT security testing, 1.000 attempts to access banned websites were discovered.
At least one senior member of the clergy was among 15 people who tried to access banned content, the newspaper reported. Cologne City Gazette.
Archbishop Rainer Maria Velki said that he requested an investigation.
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Viewing pornography on archdiocese computers is strictly prohibited, as is accessing content about drugs and violence.
Most of the suspicious activity was related to pornographic sites, the newspaper reported Cologne City Gazette.
In a statement provided by the archdiocese to the BBC, Cardinal Velki said that he was "disappointed...that employees tried to access pornographic websites".
An investigation has been launched into those who are responsible because "it is important to me that not everyone is suspected now", he added.
Nabiskupija stated that the information published by the German press was collected during a check to see if the IT security system can block access to sites that "represent a risk" because they have content with violence, pornography, and drugs.
It is added that there was no "check of content on the Internet addresses" that were discovered, but also that there are no "indications of criminal behavior".
The aim of the testing, which was carried out between May and June last year, was not to investigate the behavior of staff or clergy, it added.
Guido Assmann, vicar general of Cologne, said that his organization was "very aware" of the problem, but also that he was "satisfied because the security system was effective".
Meanwhile, the website of the Catholic Church in Germany, Katholisch.de, reported that the public prosecutor in a separate proceeding investigated a man, who does not have a priestly rank, and who was identified as one of 15 persons, on suspicion of possessing "illegal material".
The archdiocese told the BBC that it was fully cooperating with authorities and that the person under investigation was "no longer active" in the organization.
The reports come after a series of scandals engulfing Germany's largest archdiocese, which has more than two million members.
In the 2021 investigation, more than 200 abusers and more than 300 victims, mostly under the age of 14, were discovered in the period between 1975 and 2018 in the territory of the Archdiocese of Cologne.
Police raided the archdiocese's premises in June as part of an investigation into Cardinal Welk, who is accused of lying during an investigation into abuse by Winfried Pilz, a priest who ran a children's charity.
Pilz died in 2019.
The archdiocese said the charges against Cardinal Velki must be proven or dismissed.
Velki offered his resignation to the Pope last year. Rome has not yet decided whether to accept it.
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