Germany's Roman Catholic archdiocese of Cologne held a service of penance for cases of sexual abuse by clergy, saying the ritual was not an absolution for the perpetrators but a "confession of guilt."
A report commissioned by Germany’s Cologne archdiocese on church officials’ handling of past cases of sexual abuse found 75 cases in which high-ranking officials neglected their duties. The findings on Thursday prompted the archbishop of Hamburg to offer his resignation to Pope Francis.
