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Hamburg / Rome (dpa) - Pope Francis grants Hamburg Archbishop Stefan Heße a break.
The Archdiocese of Hamburg announced on Monday.
As a consequence of an expert opinion on dealing with allegations of abuse in the Archdiocese of Cologne, Heße had offered the Pope his resignation.
The Archdiocese of Hamburg described the news from Rome as the “first response” from Pope Francis to the waiver offered by Heße.
The Vatican said: «Pope Francis has given the Archbishop of Hamburg, HE Mons.
Stefan Heße, granted a break.
During his absence, the Vicar General, Msgr.
Ansgar Thim, ensure the proper administration of the archdiocese. "
At first it was unclear what exactly was meant by “time out” and how long it would last.
A spokesman for the Archdiocese of Hamburg said when asked that he understood the message to mean that no decision had yet been made.
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In the week before last, a long-awaited report was presented in Cologne.
It examined how those responsible for the diocese have dealt with allegations of sexual abuse of children by priests in the past.
Heße, who was previously head of personnel and vicar general in the Archdiocese of Cologne, was accused of a total of eleven breaches of duty.
According to the experts, this involved, among other things, violations of the duty to report and provide information.
On the same day, Heße offered the Pope his resignation "in order to avert damage to the office of Archbishop and the Archbishopric of Hamburg".
He stressed that he had never been involved in covering up allegations of abuse.
But he is still ready to do his part for the failure of the system.
Heße moved to Hamburg as Archbishop on March 14, 2015.
In Cologne, two auxiliary bishops were given leave of absence from Cardinal Rainer Maria Woelki as a result of the report.
© dpa-infocom, dpa: 210329-99-14499 / 2
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