In a major embarrassment to the Vatican Church and Pope Francis, Vatican priest Hermann Geissler, who was appointed to handle sex-abuse cases within the Catholic Church has quit from his position two months after being accused of sexual abuse, reported Washington Post.
According to the reports, Hermann Geissler, who was the Chief of staff in a Church Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, has been accused of sexual harassment by a former nun named Doris Wagner-Reisinger. The former nun of the Church had earlier accused an unnamed Vatican priest of making sexual advances towards her during a confession session in 2009. Doris Wagner later had identified the priest to be Hermann Geissler forcing him to resign from the post.
“Fr. Geissler decided to take this step to limit the damage already done to the Congregation and to his Community,” the office stated.
Last week, Doris speaking to the media had said that, with the help of a canon lawyer, she reported to doctrinal congregation officials in 2014 that the priest had propositioned her. Doris said that Geissler assigned himself as Wagner’s confessor and used it to groom her for abuse.
“After the accusation, I got a response that stated that Father Geissler had admitted, and had asked pardon, and was admonished,” said Doris.
Doris added that “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. He tried to keep me back and kiss me, but I fled from the confessional,” she said.
Doris also revealed other incidents of rapes committed against her by another priest of the community after he had come into her room one night in 2008. She said she felt confused and powerless to resist him and added that she did not tell anyone about the assault because she feared the community would “blame me.”
Wagner also said it was “ridiculous” and “symbolic of the church’s attitude toward perpetrators” that Geissler remained in the high-ranking position within the church.
Interestingly, the rape accusation against Geissler comes just before days before Pope Francis of the Vatican Church abuse prevention summit, a global meeting of Catholic bishops to discuss steps to prevent clerical sex abuse. Francis’ decision to hold an abuse prevention summit comes in the light of the Catholic Church facing a grave crisis triggered by a series of clerical sexual abuse scandals and explosive allegations against the Pope of being complicit in the cover-up of abuses by predatory priests.
