VATICAN CITY - Pope Francis has rejected Cardinal Reinhard Marx's resignation letter, saying that "Taking up the crisis, personally and communally, is the only fruitful path.”

  Cardinal Marx, the Archbishop of Munich and Freising, wrote to the pope in May, in a letter made public last week, asking to resign over the ongoing scandal in the Catholic Church in Germany concerning the cover up of child abuse over the past 40 years. 

  In his letter to the Cardinal, the pope wrote, “If you are tempted to think that by confirming your mission and not accepting your resignation, this Bishop of Rome (your brother who loves you) does not understand you, think of what Peter felt before the Lord when, in his own way, he presented his resignation." 

  Though there have been no accusations against Marx, he resigned to show the failures of the institution he believed he represents, however the pope told him this was not sufficient, and should still be leading the country.

  The pope praised his “Christian courage that does not fear the cross, that does not fear being humiliated before the tremendous reality of sin.” He continued that “the whole Church is in crisis because of the abuse issue,” but “the Church today cannot take a step forward without addressing this crisis.” He concluded that “taking up the crisis, personally and communally, is the only fruitful way, because we do not come out of a crisis alone but in community.”

  "Neither polls nor the power of institutions will save us. We will not be saved by the prestige of our Church, which tends to hide its sins; we will not be saved by the power of money or the opinion of the media (so often we are too dependent on them). We will be saved by opening the door to the only One who can [save us], and by confessing our nakedness: ‘I have sinned,’ ‘we have sinned...’ and by weeping, and stammering, as best we can, ‘Depart from me, for I am a sinner,’ – the legacy that the first Pope left to the Popes and Bishops of the Church.” 

  He concluded by quoting Jesus when he said, "Tend my sheep."

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