By Bruno Waterfield
The Telegraph
June 21, 2010
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/religion/7843929/Walter-Mixa-German-bishop-and-ally-of-the-Pope-faces-new-child-abuse-allegations.html
A secret Vatican file on a disgraced Roman Catholic German bishop alleges he is a "severely alcoholic man" who sexually preyed on young priests.
The dossier was seen Pope Benedict XVI before he accepted the resignation of Bishop Walter Mixa of Augsburg last month.
Documents, compiled after Vatican investigators questioned members of Bishop Mixa's inner circle, have detailed a litany of alleged alcoholism and sexual abuse.
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| Former bishop of Augsburg Walter Mixa |
The new allegations have come to light following his demands last week that the Vatican review his case. He has accused Germany's Archbishop Robert Zollitsch and Bavaria's Archbishop Reinhard Marx of not behaving a "brotherly" manner and pressuring him to resign.
In the dossier, witnesses described the bishop as an alcoholic who had to drink wine and spirits throughout the course of his day to feed his addiction to alcohol.
Others accused him of carrying out sex attacks on young priests during his time as a parish priest. Following an sexual incident, Bishop Mixa would then "go to confession the next morning before he celebrated mass".
The bishop was also repeatedly referred to in the dossier as "out of touch with reality".
Bishop Mixa has denied all allegations of sexual abuse as "baseless".
Gerhard Decker, the bishop's lawyer told the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung that the sex abuse claim was "all a misunderstanding."
The Bishop of Augsberg's resignation in early May followed accusations that he beat children at a Catholic orphanage in the 1970s and later misused Church money.
Bishop Mixa has since moved back into his Church mansion, and says he will demand the decision to accept his resignation is reversed next month. He claims the Pontiff was pressured to accept his resignation due to the unproven allegations of sexual abuse.
Padre Fedrico Lombardi, a Vatican spokesman, said: "The Pope has based his decision on the basis of information. Where he obtained the information is secondary."
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