Francis replies to Cardinal Reinhard Marx , resigning archbishop of Munich and Freising calling him “dear brother” and saying “first of all thank you for your Christian courage which does not fear the cross”. Shortly after he adds: “The Church cannot take a step forward without assuming the crisis”. Individual and community assumption: “I agree with you in describing the sad history of sexual abuse and how the Church has dealt with it until recently as a catastrophe. Realizing this hypocrisy in the way we live our faith is a grace, is a first step we must take. We need to take responsibility for history, both personally and as a community. We cannot remain indifferent to this crime. Accepting means putting yourself in crisis “.
Even in these hours it is not difficult to read that the one sent by Cardinal Marx to the Pope was a shocking letter. But perhaps the real shock is the idea that the wound would concern those who caused it. Of course this is indisputable, but it is not enough and the depth, beauty and strength of the letter from the German cardinal, who asked to leave the leadership of the diocese of Munich also to testify his assumption of responsibility, could not leave Francis indifferent, who in fact authorized the publication of the letter. In his reply, written in Spanish, Francis did not accept his resignation, confirming the harmony with the authoritative German cardinal: “We are asked for a reform, which – in this case – does not consist in words but in attitudes that have the courage to face the crisis, to assume reality whatever the consequences. And every reform begins with oneself. The reform in the Church was carried out by men and women who were not afraid to enter a crisis and allow themselves to be reformed by the Lord ”.
Here it is difficult not to hear the echo of what the cardinal wrote asking to be relieved of his office: “The investigations and expert reports of the last ten years constantly show me that there have been both personal failures and administrative errors, but also a institutional failure and ‘systematic’. The most recent controversies and discussions have shown that some representatives of the Church do not want to accept this co-responsibility and therefore also the co-guilt of the Institution. Consequently, they reject any kind of reform and innovation regarding the crisis linked to sexual abuse. I see it definitely differently ”.
For Francis, therefore, we do not need ideologues of reform, but to put his own flesh on the line, as Marx did. The pope acknowledges this by saying that it is “the way you yourself, dear brother, have assumed in presenting your resignation”, because “burying the past leads us to nothing. Silence, omissions, giving too much weight to the prestige of institutions only lead to personal and historical failure ”.
Worrying about prestige brought discredit, because there was a lack of courage: “Neither the polls nor the power of the institutions will save us. The prestige of our Church, which tends to hide her sins, does not save us; it does not save us the power of money or the opinion of the media (so we are often too dependent on them). We will save ourselves by opening the door to the One who can do it and confessing our nakedness: ‘I have sinned’, ‘we have sinned’ … and crying, and stammering as best we can that move away from me, because I am a sinner ‘, the inheritance that the first Pope left it to the Popes and Bishops of the Church ”.
Bergoglio is striking and profound by writing that restorative shame will open the doors to the compassion and tenderness of the Lord. What is the other way
The ostrich policy leads nowhere, warns the bishop of Rome.
