BERLIN (Reuters) – Pope Francis has rejected the resignation of the archbishop of Hamburg who had offered to step down after a report named him among several high-ranking officials in the German Catholic Church for failing to perform his duties. in the processing of cases of sexual abuse.
In a statement, the Vatican said it had thoroughly examined the documents relating to the archbishop, Stefan Hesse, former chief of staff and administration of the Archdiocese of Cologne.
Although he had identified deficiencies in the organization of his office and personal procedural errors, he had found no intention to cover up the abuses, the Vatican said in a statement posted on the German Episcopal Conference website.
“The basic problem, in the broader context of archdiocese administration, was the lack of attention and sensitivity towards victims of abuse,” he said.
The archbishop offered to resign in March after the publication of an 800-page report on the treatment of cases of abuse in the Archdiocese of Cologne, which found more than 200 abusers and more than 300 victims between 1975 and 2018.
“Given that the archbishop acknowledges the mistakes he made in the past with humility and offered his resignation, the Holy Father has … decided not to accept the resignation,” the Vatican said.
Bishops have said a dispute over the report of abuses in the Archdiocese of Cologne, which has the largest number of German-speaking dioceses in the world, is hurting the Catholic Church across the country.
(Report by Madeline Chambers, edited by William Maclean)