German bishops' leader defends Pope's decision not to accept resignation (AP)

Bishop Georg Bätzing, the president of the German episcopal conference, has defended the decision of Pope Francis not to accept the resignation of Hamburg’s Archbishop Stefan Hesse. A Vatican investigation had determined that although Archbishop Hesse had made mistakes in handling sex-abuse complaints, he had not deliberately concealed evidence.

“There are a lot of people who are confused by this decision,” Bishop Bätzing said. While expressing sympathy for their concern, he said that the Pope had followed the rules that he had set up for judging negligent bishops. “Pope Francis has kept his own law,” he said.