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	German Priest Ordered Home from US in Abuse Case By Verena Schmitt-Roschmann The Associated Press April 20, 2010 http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jQWrzPjAEtxgfa_tARqu5413A4PAD9F6SRN83 BERLIN — A German priest has been suspended and ordered home from a posting in the U.S. as he faces allegations he sexually abused teenage girls in Germany two decades ago, church authorities said Tuesday. The Roman Catholic diocese of Mainz in southwestern Germany said it had informed prosecutors in Darmstadt of the abuse allegations. It gave little detail but said there was no suggestion that he sexually abused children under the age of 14. The priest has most recently been working in Washington, D.C., pastoring to Germans there. The priest, who wasn't identified, is suspected of "having had sexual relations in the late 80s and early 90s with female youths and young women who had confided to him in his capacity as a pastor," the diocese and the German bishops' conference said in a statement. Officials at the Schoenstatt Institute of Diocesan Priests, to which the priest belongs, had known of the allegations since someone claiming to be a victim went to them in 2004, the statement said. The diocese said it wasn't informed of the allegations at the time. Instead, the group — citing a previous relationship between the priest and a woman — asked the bishop of Mainz to grant him "time to reflect" and proposed that he be sent abroad, it added. Separately, a prominent German bishop accused of physical abuse of children decades ago and of financial misconduct offered an apology. "I am pained in my heart and sorry for causing many people grief," Bishop Walter Mixa said in a statement Tuesday without specifying what he meant. The statement comes after Mixa met with the priest council in his Augsburg diocese in southern Germany. It said the council "shares the concern of many about the credibility of our church." Mixa initially denied he had ever used any kind of violence against youngsters but later acknowledged he may have slapped children. A special investigator has also said there were financial irregularities at a children's home under Mixa's responsibility.
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