Vatican Accepts Resignation of Controversial Archbishop

ABNA
March 1, 2014

http://abna.ir/data.asp?lang=3&Id=510081

(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) -  Leader of the Catholic Church has accepted the resignation of a controversial cardinal who had been widely criticized for his anti-Islamic comments.

Pope Francis on Friday accepted the resignation of Cologne’s Roman Catholic archbishop Joachim Meisner.

Meisner’s resignation is said to have been due to his old age but German Muslims’ anger over his anti-Islamic remarks seem to have also played a part.

A few weeks ago he praised the high birth rate among Catholics for making up for large Muslim families.

“I always say, one of your families to me makes up for three Muslim families,” the Cardinal told members of the conservative Catholic group Neocatechumenal Way.

The comments were vehemently condemned by the Muslim community in Germany, rejecting them as inciting fear and misunderstanding inside the German society.

Along with Muslims’ condemnation, several German politicians also decried Meisner's defamatory comments.