A German Catholic bishop who is alleged to have physically abused children has offered to resign, his diocese said today.
Bishop Walter Mixa wrote to Pope Benedict XVI offering his resignation, according to the Augsburg diocese in the majority Catholic state of Bavaria.
He is accused of abusing at least half a dozen children at an orphanage near Munich when a priest there in the 1970s and 1980s. He also faces allegations of financial misconduct.
Bishop Mixa, one of Germany's most controversial church leaders, earlier this month issued a statement insisting that he had "never used physical violence in any form" against children. He later revised his position.
"If the debate has turned to the question of slapping, I will honestly say that as a long-time teacher and priest dealing with very many youths, I cannot rule out the odd smack in the face 20 years ago," he said
Four women who spent their childhood at the orphanage have sworn in affidavits that Bishop Mixa hit them. A man who lived in the orphanage from 1972 to 1982 told the Süddeutsche Zeitung daily of regular beatings on his bare buttocks with a carpet beater. "He pulled down my trousers at least 50 times in total and hit me with a stick five to seven times on my bottom," said the unnamed man.
His diocese said in a statement: "With his resignation, he wants to avert further damage to the Church and to allow a new start."
Germany's family minister Kristina Schroeder welcomed Bishop Mixa's resignation offer, telling ZDF television that she respected his decision.