THE TELEGRAPH: A close friend and ally of Pope Benedict XVI has been accused of regularly beating children in his care.
Bishop Walter Mixa of Augsburg is facing claims he flogged and hit former pupils at a Catholic orphanage in Germany 30 years ago.
The Bishop, who was appointed by the Pope in 2005, is a controversial figure who has tried to explain paedophilia in the Church by claiming the sexual liberation movement must share a "significant" part of the blame.
He is accused of using a carpet beater on the bare skin of boys and girls as he screamed: "Satan is in you and I must drive him out."
Five alleged victims from the orphanage, in the village of Schrobenhausen, have claimed he also used a stick, a wooden cookery spoon and, when that broke, his fists.
Nuns of the Mallersdorf order who worked for him at the at the St. Josef children's home in Schrobenhausen also hit the children with "wooden brooms, wooden shoes, and clothing hangers," they said.
Hildegard Sedlmair, now 48, claimed she was beaten by him when she was 15. >>> Allan Hall in Berlin and Nick Pisa in Rome | Wednesday, March 31, 2010
