Father Gerhard Maria Wagner, who said Hurricane Katrina 'divine retribution,' was made Bishop

Pope appoints bishop who said Hurricane Katrina was 'divine retribution'
Richard Owen in Rome
Hard on the heels of a Holocaust denial row, Pope Benedict XVI has appointed an ultra-conservative bishop in Austria who described Hurricane Katrina as God's punishment for sin and sexual excess in New Orleans.

Father Gerhard Maria Wagner, 54, a parish priest at Windischgarsten in Austria since 1988, said in the parish newsletter four years ago that the death and destruction caused by Hurricane Katrina was "divine retribution" for excessive sexual permissiveness, including tolerance of homosexuality.

He noted that Katrina destroyed not only nightclubs and brothels in New Orleans, but also abortion clinics, adding "The conditions of immorality in this city are indescribable". Father Wagner, who has been appointed as auxiliary Bishop of Linz in Austria, has also accused the popular Harry Potter books and films of "spreading Satanism".

Vatican sources said despite the row over pontiff’s controversial reinstatement of a bishop who denies that the Holocaust occurred, Pope Benedict remained determined to "bring back into the fold" not only the four bishops from the Society of St Pius X (SSPX) who whose excommunications were lifted a week ago but also the 500 priests of the fraternity, founded by the late renegade French bishop Marcel Lefebvre.