A leading German cardinal has made an apology to LGBTQ people for the mistreatment they have been subjected to by the Catholic church. Cardinal Reinhard Marx of Munich and Freising (pictured) issued his apology on March 13 at a liturgy celebrating the 20th anniversary of a monthly LGBTQ Mass held in the archdiocese. Speaking at Read more
Cardinal Reinhard Marx has said that he cannot rule out asking Pope Francis to accept his resignation for a second time. The Catholic archbishop of Munich and Freising discussed the possibility of a second resignation offer in a letter issued on July 23. He read out in churches in the archdiocese at the weekend, reported Read more
Pope Francis has written declining German Cardinal Reinhard Marx’s 21 May letter of resignation. In his letter Francis says he agrees with Marx that Catholic leaders cannot adopt an “ostrich policy” in the face of the clerical sexual abuse crisis. “If you are tempted to think that, by confirming your mission and not accepting your Read more
German cardinal Reinhard Marx has offered his resignation as archbishop over the Church’s mishandling of clergy sexual abuse cases. The Church is at a “dead end” and the reputation of its bishops has, possibly, never been lower, his resignation letter says. The pope gave Marx permission to make his letter of 21 May public. “It Read more
An outcry from abuse survivor advocates has seen Munich and Freising’s archbishop refuse the German equivalent of knighthood. Cardinal Reinhard Marx says he wrote to German president Frank-Walter Steinmeier on Tuesday, declining to accept Germany’s only federal decoration. He was scheduled to receive the Federal Cross of Merit at Berlin’s Bellevue Palace today, April 30. Read more
The archbishop of Munich, Germany is pledging €500,000 (NZD860,000) of his personal finances to establish a foundation for victims of child abuse. Cardinal Reinhard Marx said the not-for-profit organization Spes et Salus (Hope and Healing) would see the Catholic Church engaged in helping victims process their experiences. Marx said his contribution constituted “by far the Read more
Women’s ordination and married priests are still on the agenda for Germany’s new bishops’ conference leader, Bishop Georg Bätzing. The new president says throughout the Church’s recent history, “different popes have explained and underlined that women’s access to the priesthood cannot be decided by the Church and Pope Francis is no exception.” “In the Catholic Read more
German Cardinal Reinhard Marx has announced that he will not seek a second term as head of the national bishops’ conference, citing age and a desire to spend more time in his archdiocese as key reasons for the decision. Marx, who was tapped as the archbishop of Munich and Freising in 2008, was elected president Read more
German bishops are looking for ways to halt the massive exodus from the Church in Germany caused by the clerical abuse crisis. The bishops’ conference launched a two-year “synodal procedure” for church reform last weekend, on the first Sunday of Advent. Working together with the lay Central Committee of German Catholics (ZdK), special synodal candles Read more
Among those who believe the Catholic Church must modernise to save itself from perpetual decline, some of the staunchest advocates are church leaders here in Germany. Some German bishops have spoken in favour of abandoning the celibacy requirement for priests and vaulting women into leadership roles now off-limits. Some have urged updating the religion’s stern Read more