BERLIN — A German bishop accused of beating children decades ago when he was a priest has tendered his resignation to Pope Benedict XVI, the diocese in Augsburg said Thursday, the latest jolt to the Roman Catholic Church in Germany as it grapples with a swirling sexual abuse scandal.

The accused man, Bishop Walter Mixa, was one of the church’s most prominent and outspoken conservatives in Germany, and he aggressively defended himself for weeks against charges of physically abusing children in a Bavarian orphanage.

Accusations have also surfaced of financial irregularities at the orphanage’s foundation. A lawyer hired by the foundation has raised questions about thousands of dollars spent on wine, art, jewelry and even a tanning bed while Bishop Mixa was chairman of the foundation’s board in the 1990s. Bishop Mixa was a priest in the town of Schrobenhausen from 1975 to 1996.

Bishop Mixa sent a letter to the pope on Wednesday asking to be relieved of his office, the diocese said. Although he was not accused of sexual abuse, his case made headlines across Germany for weeks and focused more negative attention on a church already shaken by scandal.