Commitment to justice and solidarity

adminonDecember 27, 2021January 5, 2022Leave a Comment

The Office of the Federal President upholds the award of the Federal Cross of Merit to Munich Cardinal Reinhard Marx. Victims of sexualized violence in the church protested against the cardinal's award.

Marx, as president of the German Bishops' Conference, had worked in a particularly high-profile way for justice and solidarity in society, a spokeswoman told the Catholic News Agency (KNA) in Berlin on Sunday. "He has stood up for the reception of refugees, has opposed populism and agitation, and has called for help for those in need in Germany and the world – regardless of origin and religion."

In a time of increasing polarization, the Munich archbishop has thus contributed to social cohesion and mediation between church and society, the spokeswoman continued. On Friday, victims of sexual abuse in the church had protested against the award because of the cardinal's role in clearing up abuse. In an open letter, the affected persons' advisory council of the archdiocese of Cologne called on the German president not to honor the cardinal.

Federal president has clear expectations for enlightenment

The Office of the Federal President said in this regard that Steinmeier had clearly formulated his expectations for the clarification of the mass sexual abuse of children and young people in the Catholic Church. "The fact that institutions such as the Catholic Church have for decades spread the cloak of silence about thousands of cases of abuse and children and young people have mostly stood alone and without support was criticized by the Federal President in his speech on the occasion of the award of Matthias Katsch and Father Klaus Mertes," said the spokeswoman.

At the same time, Steinmeier called on the Catholic Church and other institutions in which children and young people have been victims of sexualized violence to take action.

Steinmeier had on 8. April at the award of the two nationally known abuse clarifiers, Jesuit Father Klaus Mertes and Matthias Katsch, declared: "A crime requires clarification. And it demands prosecution. The same perpetrator must be prevented from finding new victims in ever new places. Good coaxing and demands for individual repentance are not enough. Such cases must never again be treated only as internal affairs of the institutions concerned, including churches."

Advisory council for those affected does not see Marx as an enlightener

In the open letter, the victims' advisory council had said it was "incomprehensible" that Marx should receive the honor because he "continues to be criticized for not having consistently followed up on cases of sexualized violence in his former diocese of Trier and is accused of covering up in this context".

In addition, Marx is accused in the letter of keeping a report on cases of sexualized violence in the Archdiocese of Munich and Freising, which should have been published in 2010, under lock and key.

The announced honor calls into question "everything for which we fight and work," says the letter, which Peter Bringmann-Henselder signed for the victims' advisory council and which, according to him, was signed off by the other members. The award of the Federal Cross of Merit to Marx, who was chairman of the German Bishops' Conference from 2014 to 2020, is scheduled for Friday.

Those affected want to return Federal Cross of Merit

The victims' advisory council said that if the head of state nevertheless awarded Marx the Federal Cross of Merit, all "who have already been awarded the Federal Cross of Merit for their services to the victims of sexualized violence should return it".

Bringmann-Henselder pointed out that he himself is a recipient of the Federal Cross of Merit. He will return this order, should it come to the award to Marx.

Francis with President Morales © dpa

Francis in Bolivia © dpa

Pope Francis' eagerly awaited appearance before the second worldwide congress of popular movements took on the character of an anti-capitalist political rally in places.

At the beginning of the event in a large exhibition hall, participants read out a "Declaration of Santa Cruz," in which they called for a new world economic order and an overcoming of "capitalist neoliberalism". The extensive leftist list of wishes also included self-determination "regardless of sexual orientation".

Accompanied by clenched fists, placards and chants demanding sea access for Bolivia, President Evo Morales began his speech. He wore a blazer with a portrait of Ernesto Che Guevara emblazoned on his chest. Morales was involved in building the communist dictatorship in Cuba in the 1960s alongside Fidel Castro, and died as a guerrilla fighter in Bolivia in 1967. Among the flags that were waved in the hall were Cuban flags.

Morales praises Greek government

In a long, combative speech that preceded that of the pope, Morales attacked the "North American empire" that was trying to fight the "democratic revolutions" in Latin America and divide the continent's peoples. At the same time, he praised the successes of his political movement, Movimiento al Socialismo. The starting point was the social movement of coca farmers and other unions. It had led to the reestablishment of the state in dignity and freedom. One of the visible successes was the nationalization of the extractive industries. The fight against privatization is a central concern of all Latin American popular movements.

In his half-hour speech, the leftist politician also attacked his liberal predecessor governments and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in a pugnacious all-out attack. He explicitly praised Greece's president Alexis Tsipras for his resistance to the austerity demands of the IMF and creditor states. What the Greek government is trying to do, he said, is the beginning of a revolution against the power of the financial world in Europe as well, which he wishes success to. Morales also criticized the state of Israel, the United Nations and the World Security Council. This, he said, was in fact a "world insecurity council".

Francis calls for conversion of hearts

Francis, whom Morales addressed several times as "Brother Pope Francis," followed the speech with a critical eye but did not comment on it. His own speech, delivered calmly and collectedly, was also peppered with demands for radical change at the national and international levels. The applause of about 3.000 participants for "our revolutionary pope," as he was announced, but was initially more restrained compared to the Bolivian president's whip-smart speech. Only when the pope called on the participants to take the process of political and economic change into their own hands did the applause grow.

His appeal not only to change structures, but also to strive for a conversion of hearts, met with only moderate enthusiasm. The strongest applause erupted when he asked for forgiveness for the sins of those clerics who had violated the rights of indigenous people in the conquest and missionization of Latin America. He did not forget to mention all those clergy and religious who have worked alongside the poor and disenfranchised over the past decades and centuries.

After his speech, the pope demonstratively donned the helmet of a Bolivian miner and personally blessed many of the popular movement leaders in attendance. He seemed much more relaxed than the Bolivian bishops, who left the hall at a rapid pace. Some of them have had conflicts with Morales in the past. They accused him of limiting the church's social impact and freedom of expression.

In the Year of Mercy, Pope Francis 1.071 priests all over the world – among them 19 German ones – appointed as "Missionaries of Mercy". But what does the pope's authority actually empower them to do?

1.071 "Missionaries of Mercy" sent out by Pope Francis to dioceses around the world on Ash Wednesday, including 19 Germans. The confessors are endowed with the authority to forgive even those sins from which, per se, only the Holy See can absolve – such as illicit episcopal consecrations or physical attacks on the pope.

In advance, Francis on Tuesday evening called on pastors to always see the "desire for forgiveness in the hearts of sinners" during confession. Their shame should be met with "respect and encouragement," Francis told about 700 clergy members. "To be missionaries of mercy is a responsibility entrusted to you because it requires you to be most personal witnesses of God's closeness and love," the pope said.

"Do not investigate, but continue"

Further, Francis urged pastors to keep in mind during confession, "It is Christ who receives, it is Christ who hears, it is Christ who forgives, it is Christ who gives peace." Good confessors must know how to interpret words and gestures correctly, Francis added in free speech. Sometimes sinners repent, but they are afraid or have problems talking about their sins. If priests realized this, they should not investigate, but proceed, Francis said.

Distinction between sin and criminal punishment

Basically, a distinction must be made between sin and the penalty associated with it, explains Klaus Ludicke, an expert in canon law from Munster, Germany. According to the canon lawyer, any confessor can absolve from the sin itself – "that is, the guilt before God that weighs on the conscience" – "even without the Pope's new initiative". However, in serious cases, the annulment of an offence is incumbent upon the Holy See or the local bishop.

The so-called deed penalty occurs by itself with the commission of the deed, even without explicit imposition, without having to be imposed specifically like the "sentence penalty". The best-known example is the sin of abortion, which is accompanied by excommunication. In the case of abortion, the annulment of this penalty is reserved to the local bishop. In the case of abortion, Francis already relaxed the rule last September. Since then, in the "Year of Mercy", all priests are allowed to lift the penalty of excommunication associated with abortion.

Abolition of the penalties

Those penalties that only the Holy See can cancel and, as of Ash Wednesday, also the approximately 1.000 Missionaries of Mercy, are described in the "canones" 1367, 1370, 1378, 1382 and 1388 of canon law, the so-called "Codex Iuris Canonici". These include the defilement of the Eucharist (canon 1376), a physical attack on the Pope (canon 1370), the absolution of a confessing person with whom the priest had previously had sexual intercourse (1378), the illicit consecration of a bishop (1382), the breaking of the seal of confession (1388).

Since the expansion of the penal provision in the Codex of 2010, the attempt to administer the sacrament of Holy Orders to a woman is also included here. It is therefore not possible to speak of a special authority to forgive sins in strict terms of canon law, Ludicke said. The core of the authority is directed rather to the cancellation of the penalty associated with sin.

Large-scale transmission

With the initiative, Francis is setting a new precedent. In the Lateran Basilica, in St. Peter's Basilica and in Santa Maria Maggiore, there are international religious priests who are assigned to the Grand Penitentiary – currently Cardinal Mauro Piacenza – and are on duty for the pilgrims in this regard. However, there has not yet been a widespread transmission of the authority.

For the Linz vicar general and canon lawyer Severin Lederhilger, this is the pope's "great concern" to "invite people again more strongly to forgiveness and reconciliation in confession.". The clear hint for this was given by the pope again in the promulgation bull: "Perhaps we forgot for a long time to point out the way of mercy and to walk on it. In our time, when the Church is committed to the new evangelization, it is necessary to present the theme of mercy with new enthusiasm and a renewed pastoral ministry."The Missionaries of Mercy should now live this idea in many places of the world and assist people with grave misconduct.

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