Abuse scandal in the church: Osnabrück Bishop Bode resigned

The Catholic Bishop Franz-Josef Bode has resigned. The resignation is a novelty in connection with the abuse cases in the church. The Pope accepted the resignation, the Vatican said.

For the first time, a Catholic bishop in Germany has resigned in connection with the abuse cases in the Catholic Church. As the Vatican announced, the Pope accepted the resignation of Osnabrück Bishop Franz-Josef Bode.

“The decision to resign has matured in me over the last few months,” Bode said in one opinionin which he gave several reasons for this step – above all his own mistakes in processing cases of abuse.

“Especially when dealing with cases of sexualized violence by clerics, for a long time I myself had more in mind the perpetrators and the institution than those affected. I misjudged cases, often acted hesitantly and sometimes made wrong decisions,” said Bode. “Today I can only ask everyone concerned for forgiveness again.” Bode was the longest-serving incumbent Catholic bishop in Germany.

“The processing continues”

In his statement, Bode also referred to measures that he had now initiated to better deal with cases of sexualized violence: “The diocesan protection process against sexualized violence and spiritual abuse has been significantly strengthened, the work-up is continuing.”

In addition, with the provisional conclusion of the “Synodal Path” of the Catholic Church in Germany, an interim goal that is important to him has been achieved, on the basis of which he was finally able to implement some concrete reform projects for the Osnabrück diocese, said Bode. However, the continued need to perpetuate the synodal principle in the Church will still require a great deal of energy, which he himself can no longer muster.

With his resignation from office, Bode is retiring as a member and deputy chairman of the German Bishops’ Conference. The episcopal see in the diocese of Osnabrück is no longer occupied with immediate effect, and the period of the vacancy in the see begins. Canon law stipulates that the office of vicar general expires at the same time as the bishop and all the bodies assigned to the bishop cease to exist.

Resignation as a sign of responsibility

The chairman of the German Bishops’ Conference, Bishop Georg Bätzing, accepted Bode’s resignation with “great regret and respect”. “I would have liked to have seen you by our side for more years in the German Bishops’ Conference. At the same time, I understand your decision and the associated consequences.”

With the resignation, Bode is also taking responsibility for “the issue of sexual abuse in the church that has accompanied us all for a long time,” said Bätzing. “There was a struggle in you, an inner turmoil, sometimes also the disappointment with confreres.”

Serious allegations in the abuse scandal

Bode was recently criticized for not reacting appropriately to cases of abuse. Last year he declared a case of sexualized violence against minors as a “relationship”, accused a council of those affected. In December, he contacted the Vatican and filed a canonical complaint against Bode.

In another case, a priest in a parish had sexually abused a girl for years. The experts accuse Bode of having given the priest a management position in youth work in the same year that the person concerned reported the man to the bishop. Bode had initially announced that he did not want to resign. So far, nothing was known of a corresponding request from the Pope.

The Pope has so far rejected requests for resignation from other bishops, and in the case of Cologne Cardinal Rainer Maria Woelki, the decision is still pending.