Catholic Church: an eminent cardinal resigns denouncing "the catastrophe of sexual abuse"
Cardinal Reinhard Marx, here in 2010. REUTERS - Tony Gentile
Text by: RFI Follow
2 min
This is an unusual announcement in the Catholic Church.
An important German cardinal has tendered his resignation to Pope Francis because of the “
sexual abuse catastrophe
”.
A gesture by Cardinal Reinhard Marx which is part of the assumption of responsibility desired by the sovereign pontiff.
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With our correspondent in Rome,
Blandine Hugonnet
Pope Francis has not yet agreed to Cardinal Marx leaving his post as Archbishop of Munich, but in the meantime the Sovereign Pontiff has urged him to make public his letter of resignation, sent at the end of May.
A letter which directly denounces the scandals of sexual abuse committed by members of the Church and above all admits the failure of the institution in the management of this disaster.
Hard and clear words, to which the Sovereign Pontiff thus gives his approval.
► To read also:
The Vatican explicitly inscribes pedocriminality in the law of the Church
Very close collaborator of Francis, Cardinal Marx is not only influential in Germany, he is also influential in the Vatican where he is a member of the Council of Cardinals, responsible for reforming the Roman curia, the government of the Church. His unexpected announcement of resignation seems to want to set an example of what the head of the Catholic Church advocates regarding sex crimes: awareness and especially responsibility.
For the eminent German prelate, to resign is to assume a shared responsibility and send a strong signal to bring about a new start for an entire Catholic Church today in an impasse.
A justification in line with the policy of the Pope who, since an unprecedented summit with bishops from around the world two years ago at the Vatican, tries to impose zero tolerance against pedophilia in the Church.
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