Pope rejects German archbishop’s resignation over abuse

By GEIR MOULSON
Associated Press

BERLIN (AP) — Pope Francis has rejected the resignation of the archbishop of Hamburg, who offered to step down in March after a report faulted him for his handling of sexual abuse allegations in his previous diocese. The papal nuncio’s office in Berlin said 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.