Pope Francis rejected the resignation of a German cardinal who denounced the treatment of sexual abuse

Pope Francis did not accept the resignation of German cardinal Reinhard Marx, currently Archbishop of Munich, who asked to be removed from office and recognized the “Failure” of the Catholic Church in the “Sexual abuse disaster” in your country.

The Pope, in a letter addressed to the cardinal, thanks him for his “courage”, agrees with him in his vision of the management of this sexual abuse, but asks him to “continue” being Archbishop of Munich.

Thank you for your courage. It is a Christian courage which does not fear the cross, does not fear to be overwhelmed by the immense reality of sin.», Wrote Francis to the cardinal.

The whole Church is in crisis because of the problem of abuse; Moreover, the Church today cannot take a step forward without assuming this crisis.

Cardinal Marx, one of Germany’s most influential prelates and close associate of Francisco By being part of the cardinal commission which advises him, he caused a real earthquake in the Catholic Church last Friday by submitting his resignation.

This decision came as “Sign of taking responsibility” after devastating report on child abuse and cover-ups between 1975 and 2018 by the priests of the Archdiocese of Cologne.

“It is important for me to share the responsibility for the catastrophe of sexual abuse perpetrated by church leaders over the past decades”written to Pope Reinhard Marx, also former president of the German Bishops’ Conference.

The cardinal, 67 years old and considered a liberal within the institution, considered that the The Catholic Church has reached a “dead end”.

In his response, Francis, referring to the situation in which the German cardinal is living, asserts that “The whole Church is in crisis because of the problem of abuse; moreover, the Church today cannot take a step forward without assuming this crisis ”.

The pontiff adds that “The ostrich policy leads nowhere, and the crisis must be assumed with our paschal faith. Sociologisms, psychologisms are useless. Assuming the crisis, personally and as a community, is the only fruitful way because a crisis does not come out alone but in community and we must also keep in mind that a crisis comes out better or worse, but never the same ”.

The Pope agrees with Marx in calling the sad history of sexual abuse and the way the Church has dealt with it until recently “a catastrophe” and that the first step the Church must take is “to take charge of history, both personally and as a community”.

Francisco explains that although “Historical situations must be interpreted with the hermeneutics of the time in which they occurred”, This “does not exempt us from taking charge of them and assuming them as a story of the sin that assails us”.

And advocates that “Every bishop in the Church must assume this and ask himself what should I do in the face of this catastrophe?

“He meagered myself in the face of so many historical mistakes in the past, we have done it more than once in many situations, although we have not personally participated in this historical situation. And it is this same attitude that we are asked today ”, Add.

Francis assures us that the Church is asked for “a reform” concerning cases of abuse and that it cannot consist only of words “But in attitudes which have the courage to put themselves in crisis, to assume reality whatever the consequence.”

“Silences, omissions, giving too much weight to the prestige of institutions only lead to personal and historical failure, and they lead us to live with the weight of having skeletons in the closet, ”he emphasizes.

And urge “Air out this reality of abuse and the way the Church has proceeded. “

At the end of the letter, Francis asks Marx to continue his fight “as archbishop” and draws an analogy; He told him to think about when Peter presented his resignation to the Lord and said, “Depart from me, I am a sinner” and the response was, “Shepherd my sheep.

A shocking report, published in March, revealed that Hundreds of minors suffered sexual abuse in the diocese of Cologne between 1975 and 2018 and that several religious leaders remained silent, despite being aware of these attacks

In 2019, during an unprecedented meeting of the presidents of the episcopal conferences at the Vatican, devoted to the scandals of sexual abuse of minors committed within the clergy, Marx stood out by demanding more transparency on this issue.

One year before, apologized on behalf of the German church after the publication of a report by university professors which revealed that more than 3,600 minors had been sexually abused over the decades.

(With information from EFE and AFP)

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