Pope Francis has opted to publish the full text of this letter, in which he rejects Cardinal Reinhard Marx's offer to resign as Archbishop of Munich.
In the letter, the Pope thanks him for his courage in taking the Church's institutional failures upon himself. Cardinal Marx himself is not accused of negligence in abuse cases, but said he hoped his resignation would help the Church get a start fresh in tackling abuse.
In the letter, Pope Francis refers to the Church's recent mishandling of abuse cases as a “catastrophe.”
The Pope says that “the entire Church is in crisis because of abuses” and that “it cannot move forward without addressing this crisis.”
Pope Francis also agrees with Cardinal Marx that “not everyone wants to accept” institutional responsibility for abuses, but that it is “the only way”. Keeping your head in the sand, he says, leads nowhere.
That's why the Pope is asking the whole Church to take ownership of the abuse situation, both individually and as a community.
