German archbishop pushes reform after criticism over abuse

By GEIR MOULSON
Associated Press

BERLIN (AP) — The archbishop of Munich says the Catholic church needs deep reform to overcome the “disaster” of sexual abuse. He made clear on Thursday that he insteads to stay in his job, after a report faulted him and predecessors including retired Pope Benedict XVI for their handling of abuse allegations and cases in Germany. Cardinal Reinhard Marx last year offered to resign over the church’s abuse scandal, an extraordinary gesture at the time which was rejected swiftly by Pope Francis. Marx, a prominent reformist ally of the pontiff, was faulted over his handling of two cases in the report commissioned by his archdiocese from a Munich law firm. He said he will look over those cases “to learn from them.”