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	Bishop Offers Resignation, Abuse Issue Buffets Germany - Feature By Jean Baptiste Piggin Earth Times April 22, 2010 http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/320051,news-bishop-offers-resignation-abuse-issue-buffets-germany--feature.html Berlin- A German Catholic bishop, Walter Mixa, 68, confirmed Thursday his resignation offer as anger mounted in Germany at perceived attempts to sweep news of violence and sex abuse in the church under the carpet. Mixa, who became a bishop in 1996, has not been personally accused of sex abuse. Nor has he been implicated in what many claim was a systematic cover-up lasting into the 1990s of crimes by junior clergy. Instead he stumbled over his begrudging admission that he slapped - or possibly boxed the ears - of teenaged residents of an orphanage. He also admitted accounting irregularities with orphanage funds while he was parish priest of the town of Schrobenhausen from 1975 to 1996. Investigations in Germany in recent weeks have turned up dozens of cases of sexual molestation from 1950-2000, but the focus has also been on the brutal corporal punishment that was common throughout the German school and welfare system as late as 1980. Mixa, who heads a Bavarian diocese, Augsburg, appeared to miss signals coming not only from the secular media, but also from lay Catholic leaders in Germany demanding honesty and penitence about errors. Georg Ratzinger, 86, brother of Pope Benedict XVI, took that path last month when former choirboys charged he had slapped them from the 1960s to 1980s while he was director of music at Regensburg Cathedral. He promptly admitted it, and the storm went away. "In those days, slaps were just the ordinary response to bad behaviour or deliberate laziness," he told the newspaper Passauer Neue Presse. He said he was glad that hitting pupils had been banned in 1980. "I obeyed that strictly and was secretly relieved." Mixa initially chose to patronize his accusers, saying he would pray for them, and adding, "I hope that the persons who the newspapers say are making accusations against me will rethink." Declaring that as a priest he was committed to non-violence, he said, "I assure you that I never used physical force against teenagers and children." The allegations were "absurd and false." Two weeks later, as a special investigator appointed by the orphanage exposed the beating of the children, many of whom were from dysfunctional homes and behaviourally disturbed, Mixa shifted ground. He admitted slapping orphans' faces and said financial irregularities happened because he did not understand accounting. He insisted he never hit children with a closed fist, cane or carpet beater, as claimed in affadavits. All of the incidents happened so long ago that they cannot be prosecuted in the courts. Instead it will be up to the investigator, Sebastian Knott, to rule on the Mixa's deeds. He is still studying why orphanage funds were spent on fine wine, a sun-tanning bed, the "gift" to Mixa of his expensive bishop's ring, a sculpted Gothic cross for a chapel and art for Mixa's home. One purchase also revealed him as a bad judge of art. A con man in Rome sold him a "Piranesi engraving" which turned out to be an 18th- century forgery, worth only one-tenth the price Mixa paid. On Thursday, Mixa's office confirmed the resignation letter had been sent to the pope. Mixa said he was resigning "for the good of the diocese" and to allow it a fresh start. "I am aware of my own weaknesses. I beg pardon once again today from all those who I might have treated unfairly and from all those to whom I have caused sorrow. I take this step in unshakeable confidence in the grace of God," his printed statement said. The statement added that Mixa intended to "actively cooperate with a full investigation of all accusations against him." Aides said the bishop had cancelled all future appointments, was not available for interviews, and was leaving town on a "vacation." While there was no immediate response from the Vatican, and Pope Benedict, at least theoretically, has the option of refusing the resignation, no Catholic or political leader begged Mixa to stay. Bavaria state's minister for relations with the church, Ludwig Spaenle, said of the decision: "It's common sense." It was welcomed too by the head of the council of priests in Augsburg, Bernhard Ehler, as the right move to avert more harm to the church. Bishops usually stay in office until the age of 75, but sometimes leave sooner. Four Irish bishops offered their resignations last year for mishandling cases of paedophile priests. The pope has let three go. Thomas Schueller, professor of canon law at Muenster University, said resignations were more common in Asia and Africa when bishops became overwhelmed by duties. A bishop keeps his rank till he dies, "but resigning means he is no longer in charge of a diocese," Schueller said.
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