German bishop resigns, cites duty in abuse scandal

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BERLIN — Pope Francis on Saturday accepted a resignation request from a German bishop who requested to step down due to his errors in dealing with sexual abuse cases.

Franz-Josef Bode, who has been the bishop of Osnabrueck, Germany, since 1995, mentioned in a private assertion that his resolution to resign “has matured in me in latest months” and he hoped it could have a liberating impact on the diocese.

Bode defined that an interim report launched in September on abuse by clergy within the diocese had revealed his errors. He acknowledged his duty as a bishop and mentioned, “As we speak, I can solely ask all these affected once more for forgiveness.”

Abuse survivor teams have accused Bode of failing to reply appropriately to some circumstances of abuse, German information company dpa reported.

The pinnacle of the German Bishops’ Convention, Bishop Georg Baetzing, issued an announcement that famous Bode’s resignation with “nice remorse and respect.”

Together with his resignation, Bode “additionally takes duty for the subject of sexual abuse within the church, which has accompanied … all of us for a very long time,” Baetzing mentioned.

“Your will to return to phrases, to enhance the therapy of victims and perpetrators in your diocese, and likewise to result in systemic change in our church haven’t allow you to go since,” he added, addressing Bode immediately in his assertion.

A church-commissioned report on sexual abuse contained in the Catholic Church in Germany in 2018 mentioned 3,677 folks had been abused by clergy between 1946 and 2014. Greater than half of the victims had been 13 or youthful, and most had been boys. Each sixth case concerned rape, and at the very least 1,670 clergy had been concerned.

Bode turned auxiliary bishop within the archdiocese of Paderborn in 1991, and had been bishop of Osnabrueck since 1995, making him Germany’s longest-serving lively bishop.

In a special case that has thrown the the archdiocese of Cologne into crisis, the pope has not but responded to a resignation request by a cardinal who has additionally been accused of mishandling sexual abuse circumstances.

The disaster of confidence in Cologne started in 2020, when Cardinal Rainer Maria Woelki, citing authorized considerations, kept under wraps a report he commissioned on how native church officers reacted when monks had been accused of sexual abuse. That infuriated many Cologne Catholics. A second report, revealed in March 2021, discovered 75 circumstances during which high-ranking officers uncared for their duties.

The report absolved Woelki of any neglect of his authorized responsibility with respect to abuse victims. He subsequently mentioned he made errors in previous circumstances involving sexual abuse allegations however insisted he had no intention of resigning.

Two papal envoys had been dispatched to Cologne a number of months later to research attainable errors by senior officers in dealing with circumstances. Their report led Pope Francis to offer Woelki a “spiritual timeout” of a number of months for making main communication errors.

In March 2022, after his return from the timeout, the cardinal submitted his supply to resign however to this point Francis has not acted on it.

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