The Cologne abuse report draws wider circles: Archbishop Heße of Hamburg offers to resign.
An initial reaction from Francis leaves a lot of room for interpretation.
Rome - Pope Francis has granted the Archbishop of Hamburg Stefan Heße a break.
As a consequence of the expert opinion on dealing with allegations of abuse in the Archdiocese of Cologne, Heße had previously offered the Pope his resignation.
Vatican: Francis reacts to the resignation of the Archbishop of Hamburg - will Heße continue?
As the Archdiocese of Hamburg announced on Monday, a "first answer" has now been received from Rome.
“Pope Francis * has given the Archbishop of Hamburg, HE Mons.
Stefan Heße, granted a break, ”announced the Vatican.
During his absence, Vicar General Ansgar Thim will administer the archdiocese.
Heße is not the first clergyman to suspend his office in the wake of allegations of abuse.
When
asked by
the
German Press Agency
, a
spokesman for the Archdiocese of Hamburg said
that he understood the message to mean that no decision had yet been made.
From informed church circles it was said that the communication from the Vatican was not a preliminary decision.
Rather, it is to be expected that a lengthy examination procedure will follow, in which the Vatican will send the files and investigate the case in detail.
That could drag on for many weeks.
So it will probably take some time before a decision about Hesse's future is made.
Critical voices, according to which the Catholic Church is not dealing with the abuse cases in all severity, could possibly increase again as a result.
Even if the Pope's step is highly praised by other observers.
Vatican: how should the Pope's statement be interpreted?
"He takes the matter seriously"
The Italian Vatican expert Marco Politi told the
dpa
that the Pope's first reaction had come very quickly in any case.
"That means: The Pope takes the matter seriously and does not want Heße to be at the head of the diocese during the examination." The Argentine Pope, whose real name is Jorge Mario Bergoglio, had already signed up last year Expressed the ongoing allegations of abuse within the Catholic Church and showed understanding for the outrage, especially among young Catholics.
However, there was no clear statement.
Canon lawyer Thomas Schüller said that for him it looked like that in the end both Archbishop Heße and the two auxiliary bishops of Cologne, Dominikus Schwaderlapp and Ansgar Puff, who were on leave as a result of the report, would remain in office.
It goes with the style of Francis that he apparently wants to buy time first.
Abuse allegations in Cologne: "Campaign" against Woelki?
Cardinal refuses to resign
Schüller criticized the abuse commissioner of the German Bishops' Conference, Stephan Ackermann, who
had told
the
Süddeutsche Zeitung
that the criticism of the Cologne Cardinal Rainer Maria Woelki in the past few weeks had "campaign-like features".
"Here people pretend that it was essentially a campaign by the evil media," said Schüller of the
dpa
.
In the week before last, a long-awaited report * was presented in Cologne.
It examined how those responsible for the diocese have dealt with allegations of sexual abuse of children by priests in the past.
The shocking result: In the Archdiocese of Cologne there were probably significantly more abusers and victims than previously assumed.
Even if the judgment did not identify any direct breaches of duty by Woelki, Woelki, who was more reluctant in the abuse affair, was confronted with demands for resignation.
However, the cardinal refused to take appropriate personnel steps.
He therefore continues to be responsible for the Archdiocese of Cologne.
+
Heße (r) together with the Cologne Cardinal Rainer Maria Woelki (m) and the former Cologne cathedral provost Norbert Feldhoff.
(Archive photo)
© stock & people / imago-images
Allegations of abuse: Eleven breaches of duty by Archbishop Heße of Hamburg?
Heße, who used to be head of personnel and vicar general in the Archdiocese of Cologne, was accused of breaches of duty in contrast to a total of eleven.
According to the experts, this involved, among other things, violations of the duty to report and provide information.
On the same day, Heße offered the Pope his resignation "to avert damage to the office of archbishop and the archbishopric of Hamburg".
The 54-year-old emphasized that he had never participated in the cover-up of abuse allegations.
But he is still ready to do his part for the failure of the system.
Heße moved to Hamburg as Archbishop on March 14, 2015.
(as / dpa) * Merkur.de is an offer from IPPEN.MEDIA
