Fulda, Germany, Sep 25, 2018 / 15:51 pm
Cardinal Reinhard Marx of Munich and Freising, chairman of the German bishops' conference, personally apologized Tuesday for "failure and pain" following an extensive report that German clergy had abused thousands of children between 1946 and 2014.
"For too long in the church we have looked away, denied, covered up and didn't want it to be true," said Cardinal Marx at a news conference in Fulda, as reported by Reuters. "For all the failure, pain and suffering, I must apologize as the chairman of the Bishops' Conference as well as personally."
"Those who are guilty must be punished," he added.
The report detailing the abuse in Germany was leaked to the German press Sept. 12.