This is how Catholics react to the Pope's letter to Cardinal Marx

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Cardinal Reinhard Marx (archive)

Photo: Bernd von Jutrczenka / dpa

"Carry on" - with these words the Pope rejects Cardinal Reinhard Marx's request to be recalled as Archbishop of Munich and Freising.

Marx had offered to resign in a letter on May 21.

He wants to take responsibility for the "catastrophe of sexual abuse by officials of the church in the past few decades."

The Pope also replied in a letter: He shared Marx's analysis, but should continue as Archbishop.

The reactions.

Canon lawyer

Thomas Schüller

sees the rejection of his resignation as a call for reforms.

"The message: we cannot escape the structural sin and guilt of sexual abuse - we have to look it in the eye together," he said.

Schüller is the director of the Institute for Canon Law at the Westphalian Wilhelms University of Münster.

The Pope's letter to Marx was "extraordinarily personal and clear," said Schüller.

"That may be painful"

Marx will now be confronted in office as a sinner with his mistakes as Bishop of Trier and Archbishop of Munich-Freising in dealing with cases of sexual abuse.

"That may be painful, but the Pope does not spare Marx this walk."

An expert opinion on cases of sexual abuse in the Archdiocese of Munich and Freising is expected this summer, which will primarily work out how sexual abuse of priests in the diocese became possible and whether high-ranking clergy protected offenders.

Abuse expert Father

Hans Zollner

sees messages to all bishops in the world in the Pope's letter.

"We have to face the crisis without hiding the crimes of the past," said Zollner.

The message is also to do this without fear of individual and institutional consequences.

Zollner is a member of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, established in 2014.

The President of the Central Committee of German Catholics,

Thomas Sternberg

, welcomes Pope Francis' decision.

He was "glad that Cardinal Marx remains with us as a strong voice," Sternberg told the Rheinische Post.

The decision from Rome shows "that the alleged dissatisfaction with the Synodal Path in Germany does not correspond to the complex reality." The reactions to Marx's offer of resignation had shown that he enjoyed "a very high reputation".

The Catholic reform movement "

We are Church

" sees the quick response from Rome as "brotherly backing" for Marx.

The letter is also an invitation to Marx to campaign for reforms and his diocese with "strength and competence," said the movement's spokesman, Christian Weisner.

The Pope made it clear that "the church cannot take a step forward" without "accepting the catastrophe of sexual abuse in the church and its dealings with it," said Weisner.

Marx is one of the most famous bishops in Germany and was chairman of the German Bishops' Conference until 2020.

In the reform debate of the Catholic Church in Germany, the Synodal Way, he had recently distinguished himself as an innovator.

jpz / dpa