Pope Appoints Controversial German Bishop to Vatican

The Province
March 22, 2012

http://www.theprovince.com/life/Pope+appoints+controversial+German+bishop+Vatican/6337637/story.html

A German bishop who resigned after admitting he beat children in a Catholic orphanage has been appointed by the pope to the Pontifical Council for Health Care, the Vatican said Wednesday. Pictured, Pope Benedict XVI waves as he arrives to lead the Angelus prayer from the window of his private apartment in Saint Peter's Square at the Vatican March 18, 2012.

A German bishop who resigned after admitting he beat children in a Catholic orphanage has been appointed by the pope to the Pontifical Council for Health Care, the Vatican said Wednesday.

Walter Mixa, 71, tended his resignation as bishop of Augsburg and military chaplain in 2010 as German prosecutors announced they were also launching a probe into paedophilia claims that were later dropped.

The Vatican has a dossier on Mixa which contains allegations of alcoholism, misuse of Vatican money and sexual abuse, according to German media reports.

At the time, Pope Benedict XVI said that the outcry over the Mixa affair was exaggerated, and called on German bishops to "show him their understanding and help him to find the right path."

The pope had advised Mixa to retire to a monastery "for a period of silence, contemplation and prayer," according to I.Media religious news agency.

The bishop also controversially compared abortion to the Holocaust, while slamming homosexuality and accusing the government of "degrading women to birth machines" for allowing mothers to return to work shortly after giving birth.

Mixa at first rebuffed allegations that he beat children and youths at the Schrobenhausen orphanage between 1975 and 1996 in the face of several sworn statements from his accusers.

But he tendered his resignation to Benedict XVI after admitting giving youngsters in his care "a slap in the face or two", which he said was "completely normal back then".