Lutheran chief Bishop resigns after caught drink driving

The head of the Protestant church in Germany, Bishop Margot Kässmann, has announced her resignation. Her decision to step down came after she was caught driving with three times the legal blood alcohol limit on Saturday night in Hanover.

Kässmann, the first woman to lead Germany's 25 million Protestants, addressed reporters on Wednesday afternoon. Just six minutes into the press conference she made it clear that she felt her position was untenable following the news that she had been stopped by police after driving through a red light.

She said she "could not stay in office with the necessary authority." She said that she was sorry that she was disappointing the many people who had urged her to stay on as head of the church. Kässmann thanked her staff who had stuck with her and her children. "I thank my four daughters who have shared in this decision," she said.

She said she knew from the past that "you cannot fall deeper than into God's hand."

Earlier on Wednesday, the Council of the Protestant church released a statement on the matter. The 14 members of the council said that, after a hastily organized conference call on Tuesday, they were unified in their desire to stand behind their bishop's ability to make the right decision on the affair. The press statement said that, "the council places its undivided trust in its head, to make decisions about how to move forward together."

Since her appointment last October, Kässmann had made headlines with several controversial political statements, concerning Germany's engagement in  Aghanistan  -- she called for a withdrawal of troops -- as well as on social welfare issues.

On Wednesday German commentators appeared to be supportive of her. While all of them condemned the act of drunk driving, none of them felt that Kässmann necessarily deserved to lose her job.