A retiring Australian bishop accused of trying to protect himself and the Catholic Church over pedophile priests is seeking forgiveness from anyone he may have disappointed.
The Pope has accepted Brisbane auxiliary bishop Brian Finnigan's resignation after he reached retirement age, the Vatican's press office has announced.
Bishop Finnigan, 77, submitted his resignation to Pope Francis in 2013, a requirement for bishops when they turn 75.
"In a pastoral career spanning more than 40 years, there have been disappointments and challenges," Bishop Finnigan said in a letter to fellow clergy in the Brisbane archdiocese on Thursday.
"From those whom I may have disappointed, I seek forgiveness."
During the bishop's December evidence to the child abuse royal commission's Ballarat diocese inquiry, counsel assisting the commission Angus Stewart SC accused him of consistently distancing himself from knowledge of child sex abuse by priests to protect himself and the church.
Mr Stewart also compared Bishop Finnigan's evidence to church officials' response to child sex abuse complaints in the 1980s, saying it lacked compassion and was not candid.
Bishop Finnigan disagreed with the accusations, although the former Ballarat vicar-general and bishop's secretary said the response of church officials was appalling.
Bishop Finnigan, who was ordained as a priest in the Ballarat diocese in 1970, on Thursday said he was grateful his resignation had now come to pass.
"At 77 years of age, energy levels and mental agility have diminished," he said.
Bishop Finnigan, who served as an auxiliary bishop in the Brisbane archdiocese since 2002, told the commission the church today should have a one strike policy on child abuse.
"I'm a firm believer that, when any act of molestation, not an allegation, but it's proven, the priest should be removed from ministry without any discussion. One strike and you're out," he told the inquiry.
