German Catholic Church apologizes over child sex abuse

Cardinal Reinhard Marx, center, bishop of Munich and Freising and head of the German Bishops’ Conference, arrives for the opening mass of the bishops’ conference in Fulda, Germany on Tuesday, September 25. (dpa via AP)

FULDA, Germany: Germany’s Catholic Church on Tuesday apologized to victims of decades of sex abuse by clergy, with the institution’s top cardinal saying perpetrators must be brought to justice.
“I have to say very clearly that sexual abuse is a crime. Those who are guilty must be punished,” said Cardinal Reinhard Marx, adding that “for all the failures and for all the pain, as chairman of Germany’s Bishops Conference, I apologize.”