Franz-Josef Bode

Franz-Josef Hermann Bode (16 February 1951) is a German prelate of the Catholic Church who was bishop of Osnabrück from 1995 to 2023.

He received his episcopal consecration on 1 September 1991 from Johannes Joachim Degenhardt and co-consecrators Hans Leo Drewes and Paul Consbruch.

[5] In January 2018, he told an interviewer that the Vatican study commission on women deacons initiated by Pope Francis in 2016 "should not only proceed from tradition.

[8][9] In November 2019, Bode said he can imagine women in his diocese leading Eucharist services, but considers his hopes unrealistic; he has named a woman as a parish commissioner and plans to have women fill half of those positions.

[10] He had offered his resignation based on a September 2022 report that faulted his handling of charges of sexual abuse by clergy.