The prosecutors closed the inquiry on March 21, saying they were unable to substantiate the accusations made against Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger in an independent report early last year due to lack of evidence or the statute of limitations.

Ratzinger, who was archbishop of Munich-Freising from 1977-82 before working in Rome and eventually becoming pope, was accused of making "bad decisions" regarding abusive priests in four cases of sexual abuse during his time in Bavaria.

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In a personal statement, Bode said that his decision to resign had "matured in me in recent months," and he hoped that his departure would have a liberating effect on the diocese.

Abuse survivor groups have accused Bode of failing to respond appropriately to some cases of abuse, according to the German news agency dpa.

Bode explained that an interim report released in September on abuse by clergy in the diocese had revealed his mistakes.

Bode acknowledged his responsibility as a bishop and said, "Today, I can only ask all those affected again for forgiveness".

The 72-year-old bishop had been vice president of the German bishops' conference since 2017 and played a key role in the German Synodal Way.

The head of the German Bishops' Conference, Bishop Georg Bätzing, issued a statement noting Bode's resignation with "great regret and respect".

With his resignation, Bode "also takes responsibility for the topic of sexual abuse in the church, which has accompanied ... all of us for a long time," Bätzing said.

A church-commissioned report on sexual abuse inside the Catholic Church in Germany in 2018 said clergy abused 3,677 people between 1946 and 2014.

More than half the victims were 13 or younger, and most were boys. Every sixth case involved rape, and at least 1,670 clergy were involved.

The report said that in the first decades of his term, Bode "repeatedly" kept people accused of abuse in office or appointed them to other positions, including management tasks in youth pastoral care.

Other prominent German bishops accused

Irme Stetter-Karp, the president of the Central Committee of German Catholics, expressed respect for Bode's decision.

"His resignation from office certainly marks an important step from the point of view of those affected, in order to make real progress in dealing with the abuse scandal," she said.

In a statement published on Saturday, Bode said: "In the almost 32 years of my episcopal ministry, almost 28 of them as bishop of Osnabrück, I have borne responsibility in a church that has not only brought blessings but also guilt."

He admitted that "Especially in dealing with cases of sexualised violence by clergy, for a long time I myself tended to focus more on the perpetrators and the institution than on the victims. I misjudged cases, often acted hesitantly, made many wrong decisions and failed to live up to my responsibility as a bishop".

In addition to Bode, several other prominent German bishops have been accused of mishandling cases of sexual abuse.

They include Synodal Way initiator Cardinal Reinhard Marx, Synodal Way president Bishop Georg Bätzing and Hamburg's Archbishop Heße.

All of them have so far remained in office.

The pope has not yet responded to a resignation request from Cardinal Rainer Maria Woelki who also was accused of mishandling sexual abuse cases.

Sources

AP News

Catholic News Agency