Senior Vatican official resigns after being accused of sexual abuse

A senior official Vatican He resigned after a former member of his community publicly accused him of making badual advances during confessions.

The Vatican said Tuesday in a statement that the Austrian father Hermann Geissler rejects the complaint and reserves the right to file a civil complaint.

The Congregation of the Faith reported that Geissler had asked the prefect on Monday Luis Ladaria Ferrer "give up your service", which has been accepted.

"Father Geissler took this step to limit the damage already done to the Congregation and its community, and defends the fact that the accusation against him is false and demands that the canonical process be continued," the statement said. .

Geissler, who wants the church to continue his investigation, said he was resigning to "limit the damage already done" to the Congregation of the Faith, the Vatican office in charge of badual abuse and of which he was chief of staff.

The priest was accused by the German ex-girlfriend Doris Wagner-Reisinger to have mistreated her during a confession in 2009 in Rome. The woman was part of the German Geissinger order known as "The Work". The charge was made public at a conference on women and badual abuse committed by clergy in Rome last November.

In addition, the priest is the author of many theological publications and worked for years in the old sacred Office.