Walter Johannes Mixa (born 25 April 1941) is a German prelate of the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

who is the

Bishop of Augsburg Diocese of Augsburg () is a Latin diocese of the Catholic Church in Germany. The diocese is a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Munich. History Early history The present city of Augsburg appears in Strabo as ''Damasia'', a stronghold of t ...

and Ordinary Emeritus of the Bundeswehr. He resigned as bishop of Military and Bishop of Augsburg on 8 May 2010 at age 69 after accusations he severely beat children at a

Schrobenhausen Schrobenhausen (; Central Bavarian: ''Schrobenhausn'') is a town in the district of Neuburg-Schrobenhausen in Bavaria, Germany. It is situated on the River Paar approx. south-west of Ingolstadt and north-east of Augsburg. History Remains of ...

orphanage in the 1970s and misappropriated the orphanage's funds. Mixa reportedly sexually abused minors, including an altar boy; the Office of Public Prosecution opened investigation which it closed, citing insufficient evidence. He was also accused also of sexually abusing seminarians between 1996 and 2005.

Biography

Mixa was born in

Königshütte Königshütte may refer to: * Königshütte (Silesia) Königshütte may refer to: * Königshütte (Silesia), German name for Chorzów, Poland * Königshütte (Harz), a village in Germany {{geodis ..., German name for Chorzów, Poland * Königsh� ...

Silesia Silesia (see names #Etymology, below) is a historical region of Central Europe that lies mostly within Poland, with small parts in the Czech Silesia, Czech Republic and Germany. Its area is approximately , and the population is estimated at 8, ...

(today Chorzów, Poland). His family

fled ''Fled'' is a 1996 American Buddy film, buddy action comedy film directed by Kevin Hooks. It stars Laurence Fishburne and Stephen Baldwin as two prisoners chained together who flee during an escape attempt gone bad. Plot An interrogator prepa ...

to Western Germany at the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. Mixa passed his

Abitur ''Abitur'' (), often shortened colloquially to ''Abi'', is a qualification granted at the end of secondary education in Germany. It is conferred on students who pass their final exams at the end of ISCED 3, usually after twelve or thirteen year ...

in 1964 and studied Catholic theology in

University of Dillingen The University of Dillingen, at Dillingen an der Donau in southern Germany, existed from 1551 to 1803. It was located in Swabia, then a district of Bavaria. Foundation Its founder was Cardinal Otto Truchsess von Waldburg, Prince-Bishop of Augsb ...

and

University of Fribourg The University of Fribourg (; ) is a public university located in Fribourg, Switzerland. The roots of the university can be traced back to 1580, when the notable Jesuit Peter Canisius founded the Collège Saint-Michel in the City of Fribourg ...

. He was ordained in 1970 in

Augsburg Augsburg ( , ; ; ) is a city in the Bavaria, Bavarian part of Swabia, Germany, around west of the Bavarian capital Munich. It is a College town, university town and the regional seat of the Swabia (administrative region), Swabia with a well ...

and thereafter he studied for his doctorate at the

University of Augsburg The University of Augsburg () is a university located in the Universitätsviertel section of Augsburg, Germany. It was founded in 1970 and is organized in 8 Faculties. The University of Augsburg is a relatively young campus university with a ...

. From 1973 to 1996 he also worked as a religion teacher in Schrobenhausen. In 1975 Mixa became a parish priest in Schrobenhausen and

bishop of Eichstätt A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of dioceses. The role ...

in 1996. In August 2000 Mixa was appointed Catholic Military Bishop of the

Bundeswehr The (, ''Federal Defence'') are the armed forces of the Germany, Federal Republic of Germany. The is divided into a military part (armed forces or ''Streitkräfte'') and a civil part, the military part consists of the four armed forces: Germ ...

by Pope

John Paul II Pope John Paul II (born Karol Józef Wojtyła; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 16 October 1978 until Death and funeral of Pope John Paul II, his death in 2005. In his you ...

. In July 2005 Mixa became Bishop of Augsburg. On 21 March 2012 he was appointed a Member of the

Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Health Care Workers The Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Health Care Workers was a pontifical council set up on 11 February 1985 by Pope John Paul II who reformed the Pontifical Commission for the Pastoral Assistance to Health Care Workers into its new f ...

Pope Benedict XVI Pope BenedictXVI (born Joseph Alois Ratzinger; 16 April 1927 – 31 December 2022) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 19 April 2005 until his resignation on 28 February 2013. Benedict's election as p ...

Beliefs

Mixa is described as being conservative and close to

.''German bishop accused of beating orphaned girls'', Timesonline
/ref> According to ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'' newspaper, Mixa is outspoken and "has railed against the German Government for making "birth machines" out of women" and has "compared

abortion Abortion is the early termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. Abortions that occur without intervention are known as miscarriages or "spontaneous abortions", and occur in roughly 30–40% of all pregnan ...

to the

Holocaust The Holocaust (), known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (), was the genocide of History of the Jews in Europe, European Jews during World War II. From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy ...

". He has also condemned

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

's treatment of Palestinians in the

Occupied Territories Military occupation, also called belligerent occupation or simply occupation, is temporary hostile control exerted by a ruling power's military apparatus over a sovereign territory that is outside of the legal boundaries of that ruling powe ...

and has said of the 2010 child abuse scandal that "the sexual revolution of the 1960s is at least partly to blame for this".

Abuse allegations

In March 2010 he was accused of

physical abuse Physical abuse is any intentional act causing injury or trauma to another person or animal by way of bodily contact. In most cases, children are the victims of physical abuse, but adults can also be victims, as in cases of domestic violence or ...

by five ex-pupils of a children's care home, where Mixa served as a visiting priest in the 1970s and 1980s. He denied the allegations. Further accusers have come forward and the bishop says that he cannot remember any of them. In April 2010 Mixa stated that he cannot exclude having slapped children 20–30 years ago saying he was "sorry for causing many people grief", though, according to

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

, he didn't explain what exactly he meant. On 21 April 2010 he offered his resignation to

, and the Vatican removed Mixa as Bishop of Augsburg on 8 May. Benedict XVI met with Mixa on 1 July and confirmed his acceptance of Mixa's resignation. The

Holy See Press Office The Holy See Press Office (; ) is the press office of the Holy See. It publishes the official news of the activities of the Pope and of the various departments of the Roman Curia. All speeches, messages and documents, as well as the statements ...

reported that Mixa "confirmed having committed errors and mistakes, which caused a loss of confidence and made the resignation inevitable".

Appearance for the AfD

In January 2019, he attended an event sponsored by city councilman Eberhard Brett, a member of Germany's far-right

AfD Alternative for Germany (, AfD, ) is a far-right,Far-right: * * * * * * * * * * * * * * right-wing populist and national-conservative political party in Germany. The Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV), ...

party, to discuss the role of Muslims in German society. The former Bishop Mixa spoke to around 35 listeners. After heavy criticism, a planned appearance by former Bishop Mixa at an AfD event were cancelled. The diocese of Augsburg said that further appearance would be "expressly rejected and not approved" by Bishop Konrad Zdarsa and his vicar general Harald Heinrich.

Notes and references

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mixa, Walter 1941 births Living people Roman Catholic bishops of Augsburg People from Chorzów Clergy from the Province of Silesia University of Fribourg alumni University of Augsburg alumni Members of the European Academy of Sciences and Arts