A SECRET Vatican file on a disgraced German bishop alleges he is a ''severely alcoholic man'' who preyed sexually on young priests. The dossier was seen by Pope Benedict before he accepted the resignation of Bishop Walter Mixa, of Augsburg, last month.
Documents, compiled after Vatican investigators questioned members of Bishop Mixa's inner circle, detailed a litany of alleged alcoholism and sexual abuse.
The new allegations have surfaced following the bishop's demands that the Vatican review his case.
In the dossier, witnesses described the bishop as an alcoholic who had to drink wine and spirits throughout the day. Others accused him of carrying out sexual attacks on young priests and ''going to confession the next morning before he celebrated Mass''.
Bishop Mixa has denied all allegations of sexual abuse as ''baseless''. His lawyer Gerhard Decker told the press the sex abuse claim was a ''misunderstanding''.
The bishop resigned in early May following accusations that he beat children at an orphanage and misused church money.
But he has since moved back into his mansion and has demanded that the decision to accept his resignation be reversed.
He claimed the Pope was pressured to accept his resignation due to the unproven allegations of sexual abuse.
Bishop Mixa accused the head of Bavaria's Catholic bishops, Archbishop Reinhard Marx, as well as the country's top archbishop, Robert Zollitsch, of rushing to the Pope with a ''so-called abuse case based on … eight handwritten sentences on a highly dubious scribbled note''.
He said the two should have been ''more brotherly'' towards him.
SIC: SMHAUS