Marx on resignation: "I am not tired of office, I am not demotivated"

In a statement on his offer to resign from office, the Archbishop of Munich, Reinhard Cardinal Marx, called for a renewal of the church.

He is convinced that “this society needs the voice of the gospel,” said Marx on Friday in Munich.

But a new epoch of Christianity is only possible if the church learns from the abuse crisis.

The question of how he could personally take responsibility for the calamity that happened to people “in the church” has moved him since the beginning of the year, said Marx. "None of us can make amends." But he is now convinced that those affected need a sign of taking responsibility.

“I'm not tired of office, I'm not demotivated,” said Marx.

He likes to be a priest and bishop and he will continue his ministry until Pope Francis answers his request.

Marx emphasized that his decision was "a very personal one".

He did not want his announced resignation to be understood as a call to other officials such as Archbishop Rainer Maria Cardinal Woelki from Cologne to follow his step.

"I do not want to influence the confreres there." He is responsible for the Archdiocese of Munich and Freising.

“Everyone has to take his responsibility in the way he does it.” He couldn't and doesn't want to make any rules.

"Lots of personal failure and administrative mistakes"

It had previously become known that he had asked Pope Francis to accept his resignation from the office of Archbishop of Munich and Freising and to decide on his further use. In a letter of May 21st to the Holy Father, the cardinal explained his reasons for this step. Pope Francis informed Cardinal Marx that this letter could now be published and that the cardinal should continue his episcopal service until a decision was made.

In his letter to the Pope, Marx writes: "For me, it is essentially about sharing responsibility for the catastrophe of sexual abuse by church officials in the past decades." that there had been “a lot of personal failure and administrative errors”, but “also institutional or systemic failure”.

The recent discussions have shown that "some in the church do not want to admit this element of co-responsibility and thus also complicity of the institution and are therefore opposed to any reform and renewal dialogue in connection with the abuse crisis," said the cardinal.

He clearly rejected this attitude.

Instead, the reform process started in Germany, the Synodal Way, for which Marx strongly advocated, must continue.

The Catholic Church had reached a “dead point”.

But this could become the "turning point".

With his resignation from office a personal sign could perhaps be set for new beginnings, for a new awakening of the church.

"I want to show that the focus is not on the ministry, but on the mission of the gospel."

Sternberg: There's the wrong guy

The President of the Central Committee of German Catholics (ZdK), Thomas Sternberg, was "deeply shocked" by the offered resignation.

"There goes the wrong one," said Sternberg of the "Rheinische Post".

“What Marx achieved in ecumenism, in the Synodal Way and also in dealing with abuse was very important.” Sternberg also reminded that Marx wanted to spend a large amount of his private fortune on a foundation for victims of sexual abuse in the church.

The spokesman for the initiative “Eckiger Tisch”, Matthias Katsch, expressed respect for the resignation. He experienced Marx as a clergyman "who was ready to listen," Katsch told the Catholic News Agency on Friday. He, Marx, understood that one could only make a fresh start by assuming responsibility. "Marx understood that those who dragged the cart in the dirt cannot pull it out again at the same time."

The Jesuit Father Hans Zollner, who is a member of the Pontifical Child Protection Commission, called Marx's step an "extremely important sign". "Cardinal Marx shows that the message and the credibility of the church and its officials are more important than the personal position," Zollner told the German press agency. This deserves great respect.

In his personal statement, Marx had further stated that in the past few months he had repeatedly thought about resigning from office. "Events and discussions of the last few weeks only play a subordinate role." His request to accept the resignation from office is a very personal decision. "I would like to make it clear: I am ready to take personal responsibility, not only for my own mistakes, but for the church as an institution, which I have helped to shape and shape for decades."

At the end of April, Cardinal Marx waived the Federal Cross of Merit. He was aware that the award was also an occasion for self-critical consideration of his work and the work of the Catholic Church as a whole. "I take the criticism that is now expressed by people who are affected by sexual abuse in the area of ​​the church very seriously, regardless of the correctness of the individual statements in open letters and in the media," he said at the time. In February he announced that he would forego a second term as chairman of the bishops' conference.