Cardinal of Munich and Freising Rheinard Marx, archbishop of Munich and Freising since 2008 and former president of the German bishops’ conference (from 2014 to 2020), waiver of the federal cross of merit, after the delivery of the scheduled recognition was the subject of criticism from the victims of sexual abuse within the Catholic Church. Victims criticized Marx for handling cases of abuse committed by priests in Germany. A spokesman for the diocese of Munich announced that the high prelate has written to the president Frank-Walter Steinmeier to announce the waiver. The news, confirmed by Dpa, è stata data da Koelner Stadt Anzeiger.
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The handover ceremony was due to take place on Friday in Berlin. Marx thanked the head of state for the “high honor”, which had been confirmed “in a benevolent way also as a reaction to public criticism”. However, he said himself, “I take very seriously the criticism that is now being made by people affected by sexual abuse within the Church, regardless of the correctness of individual statements in open letters and in the public media”. As a representative of the Church “and also personally”, the cardinal says he feels “obliged to shed light”.
Yesterday it was an association of the victims of the diocese of Cologne, reports the time, to launch an appeal to the federal president not to proceed with the award ceremony, given that “the accusation of the cover-up is not yet far from being dispelled” and that several investigations in this regard have not yet been concluded.
“The conferral of the federal cross on Cardinal Marx can only take place if it is clearly demonstrated that he was not guilty of any cover-up and did not hinder or prevent any clarification,” he said. Peter Bringmann-Henselder, member of the Advisory Council of the Affected, on behalf of the victims.
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