After the debate about abuse in the Archdiocese of Cologne, Hamburg Archbishop Stefan Hebe now turns to the Vatican. "I can't be a judge in my own case," Hebe says. Rome is also to decide on consequences for Hebes bishop's office.
The archbishop of Hamburg, Dr. Stefan Hebe, leaves for the time being his office as Spiritual Assistant of the Central Committee of Catholics in abeyance. At the same time, the archbishop officially addressed a letter to the Congregation of Bishops in Rome on Friday. In this letter he informs them about the current situation and the public debate about the processing of cases of sexual abuse in the Archdiocese of Cologne, with which he was also involved as the then head of the Department of Pastoral Care Personnel and Vicar General.
He also announced in the letter that as soon as the results of the investigation now underway in Cologne are available, he will send them to the Congregation for Bishops. "At my request, Rome is to examine whether the results of the investigation, which are then available, have consequences for my office as archbishop in Hamburg," the archbishop said. Cologne has announced the submission of the investigation for March 2021.
Not "judge in his own cause
"Today I have written to the Prefect of the Congregation for Bishops, Cardinal Marc Ouellet, and described the situation to him. I have declared to him that I have always participated to the best of my knowledge and conscience in the processing of cases of sexual abuse in the Archdiocese of Cologne and never in the cover-up of such cases. The public debate that has been going on for months about my time in Cologne is not only a burden on me personally, but also on the Catholics in the archdiocese. Out of concern for the Archdiocese of Hamburg, I therefore see it as my duty to inform the Roman authorities both about the current situation and about the results of the investigation from Cologne that will be available in March. For me, it is self-evident that I cannot be a judge in my own case, but rather ask the authority that appointed me to my office as archbishop to examine the case," explained Archbishop Stefan Hebe.
The evening before, Archbishop Hebe, as assistant to the Central Committee of German Catholics (ZdK), had made a statement to the members of the ZdK meeting in a digital conference. He expressed regret there that his task for the Central Committee at the present time is burdened by the public debate on the processing of cases of sexual abuse in the Archdiocese of Cologne. He therefore announced Thursday evening that he would temporarily suspend his duties as spiritual assistant until the facts of the case were finally clarified by an investigation currently under way in Cologne. For this reason, he will not participate in the plenary assembly of the ZdK, which will meet digitally on Friday and Saturday.