Vatican chief who handled sexual abuse cases resigns after accusations of sexual abuse

Female superior told nun 'we kind of have to put up with this'

Ms Wagner said: '"He would keep me there kneeling in front of him for hours, and he would tell me how much he liked me..." ((HellasX/Wikimedia))

A Vatican official who handled sex-abuse cases for the Catholic Church has quit two months after being accused of sexual abuse.

On Monday, Hermann Geissler resigned from his position as chief of staff in the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, a body that handles discipline in sexual abuse cases within the Catholic Church, according to a statement from the Holy See's press office.

Mr Geissler maintained his innocence but said he was resigning to protect the church.

"Father Geissler decided to take this step to limit the damage already done to the congregation and to his community," the office stated.

Last year, a former nun accused an unnamed priest of making sexual advances toward her while in confessional. That woman, Doris Wagner, later identified the priest to be Mr Geissler, according to the National Catholic Reporter.

Ms Wagner shared her story at a November event in Rome called "Overcoming Silence - Women's Voices in the Abuse Crisis". There, she talked about how she had moved from her native Germany at age 19 to join the religious community known as "The Work".

In 2009, a priest asked to be assigned as Ms Wagner's confessor and used it to groom her for abuse, Ms Wagner said.

"He would keep me there kneeling in front of him for hours, and he would tell me how much he liked me and that he knew that I liked him and even though we couldn't marry, there would be other ways," Ms Wagner said at the event. "At some point he would try to hold me and kiss me, and I simply panicked and ran out of the room."

Ms Wagner said she reported the behavior to her female superior and asked if she could have another confessor assigned to her.

"When I told her, actually, I was extremely relieved that she didn't blame me," Ms Wagner said. "Instead, she said something like, 'You know, I knew Father has a certain weakness for women so we kind of have to put up with this.'"

While speaking at the Rome event, Ms Wagner did not identify the priest, describing him at the time as only "another leading member of the community, a priest, who to this day is working as capo ufficio [head of the office] at the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith".

However, several news outlets soon claimed she could only be referring to Mr Geissler, and Ms Wagner confirmed it was him in later interviews.

Earlier this month, Ms Wagner told the National Catholic Reporter that nothing much had happened after she had reported Mr Geissler in 2014 to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, which handles sex-abuse cases within the Catholic Church.

"I got a response that stated that Father Geissler had admitted, and had asked pardon and was admonished," Ms Wagner told the religious newspaper. "And that was all."

Ms Wagner added it was "ridiculous" and "symbolic of the church's attitude toward perpetrators" that Mr Geissler remained in the high-ranking position within the church.

On Tuesday, the Holy See press office said Mr Geissler maintained the accusation was untrue. He also asked the church to continue a canonical process it had already started to look into the allegation.

Mr Geissler noted he reserved the right to take civil legal action.

The Washington Post