Bishop Franz-Josef Bode

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Bishop Franz-Josef Bode of the Diocese of Osnabrück served as vice president of the German bishops' conference from 2017 to 2023.

Pope Francis accepts resignation of vice president of German bishops’ conference

Mar 25, 2023

Bishop Franz-Josef Bode had previously refused to step down despite an abuse report finding he had mishandled cases in his... Read more

Delegates at the fifth assembly of the German Synodal Way, meeting in Frankfurt, Germany, on March 11, 2023, applaud after the he passage of a text calling for changes to the German Church's approach to gender identity.

German bishops announce plans to bless same-sex unions, allow laypeople to baptize and preach at Mass

Mar 17, 2023

Following the conclusion of the German Synodal Way, several bishops have announced plans to put into practice resolutions passed by... Read more

Bishop Franz-Josef Bode speaks during a press conference on Sept. 22, 2022, following the release of a report that said he mishandled abuse cases in the Diocese of Osnabrück, in northwestern Germany, which he has led since 1995.

German bishop must face Vatican investigation, abuse council demands

Dec 12, 2022

The survivors’ organization called on Bishop Bode “to take moral responsibility for the suffering caused by him — irrespective of... Read more

Bishop Georg Bätzing

Religion is ‘interruption,’ not continuity, German bishops’ president says

Sep 27, 2022

Bishop Georg Bätzing spoke in a live-streamed Mass on Tuesday on the occasion of the bishops’ plenary assembly in Dulda,... Read more