Pope accepts German bishop's resignation

AUGSBURG, Germany -- Pope Benedict XVI has accepted the resignation of the Augsburg Bishop Walter Mixa, who has admitted hitting children but has denied sexually abusing them.

In addition, Mixa will no longer be responsible for German military personnel, the Vatican announced May 8.

Just before the Vatican's announcement, the Augsburg Diocese confirmed media reports that it had informed the state prosecutor about accusations relating to sexual abuse by Mixa during his time as bishop of Eichstatt, 1996-2005. According to those reports, the incidents involved a boy.

Mixa's lawyer denied the accusations and said that the bishop was cooperating with the prosecutor.

On April 21, Mixa submitted his resignation following accusations that he had hit children during his time as priest in charge of a children's home near Augsburg. He originally denied the charges, then admitted that he may have "boxed the ears" of children.

A special investigator has been appointed by the children's home to look into the accusations, as well as into evidence that then-Father Mixa had used money from the children's home for private purposes.

Whereas the incidents at the children's home cannot be prosecuted because they occurred too long ago, the alleged abuse in Eichstatt may still be within the statute of limitations.

Mixa, who is currently in a Swiss sanatorium, told Germany's Bild am Sonntag newspaper that he had felt the letter informing him of the Vatican's decision was "sincere and friendly."

German commentators are noting that the Vatican's decision to accept the resignation has come unusually quickly. In the case of Irish bishops accused of similar offenses, the process took months.

The prompt decision will help prevent the Mixa case from dominating the Kirchentag, ecumenical church assembly, which 150,000 Christians are expected to attend beginning May 12.

The pope's decision was greeted with relief by prominent figures in the German Catholic Church.

Archbishop Robert Zollitsch of Freiburg im Breisgau, president of the German bishops' conference, thanked the pope "for his support of the German church." He said the church had been "seriously burdened" by the case, which had cost the institution credibility.

The head of the Bavarian bishops' conference, Archbishop Reinhard Marx of Munich and Freising, said that the resignation "ended a period of uncertainty for the [Augsburg] diocese."

On April 21, Zollitsch and Marx took the unprecedented step of announcing to the press that they had advised Mixa to resign.

On April 29 they traveled with Augsburg Auxiliary Bishop Anton Losinger to the Vatican to inform the pope personally about the case. Although the visit was supposed to have been private, the Vatican press office reported it the next day.

The former head of the German bishops' conference, Cardinal Karl Lehmann of Mainz, told German television that "one has to recognize from time to time that someone is not up to the job."

The Augsburg Cathedral Chapter has chosen Augsburg Auxiliary Bishop Josef Grunwald as diocesan administrator until a new bishop is appointed. Bishop Grunwald, 73, wrote diocesan priests, parishes and staff and called for an "honest new beginning" in the diocese.