First Female Lutheran Bishop Resigns

Well, she still has better sense than most of the men in the Roman Catholic Church: Maria Jepsen, the world’s first female Lutheran bishop, has resigned after accusations that she mishandled the case of a pastor who abused young boys and girls in the '70s and '80s in her German diocese. "My credibility has been called into question," she said at a press conference Friday. "Therefore, I am no longer in a position to continue the duty I promised to God and to my congregation when I was ordained and when I was elected as a bishop." The abuse victim, now 46 years old, says she told Jepsen about her treatment as far back as 1999, though Jepsen says she did not know the specifics until this year. Jepsen became the first female Lutheran bishop in 1992.