Pope rejects German archbishop's resignation over abuse

Pope Francis has rejected the resignation of the archbishop of Hamburg, who offered to step down in March after he was faulted for his handling of sexual abuse in his previous diocese

BERLIN -- Pope Francis has rejected the resignation of the archbishop of Hamburg, who offered to step down in March after he was faulted for his handling of sexual abuse in his previous diocese.

The papal nuncio's office in Berlin said in a statement posted on the Hamburg archdiocese's website Wednesday that the pontiff made his decision after two envoys traveled to Cologne in June to look into possible mistakes by senior church officials there in handling past sexual abuse cases.

Hamburg Archbishop Stefan Hesse's resignation offer followed the release of a report commissioned by his counterpart in Cologne which found 75 cases in which high-ranking officials neglected their duties in such cases. They were criticized, for example, for failing to follow up on or report cases of abuse, not sanctioning perpetrators or not caring for victims.

Hesse, previously a senior official in the Cologne archdiocese, was faulted for 11 cases of neglecting his duty. At the end of March, Francis granted him a “time out” of unspecified length.