Vienna - Reacting to massive protests, ultraconservative Austrian Catholic priest Gerhard Wagner withdrew his nomination to become auxiliary bishop, saying Monday he had received "merciless" treatment.

Wagner, 54, suggested in 2005 that Hurricane Katrina could have been God's punishment for abortion clinics, prostitution and homosexuality in New Orleans.

"Ever since I was nominated, I sensed opposition that often was carried out in a merciless and unkind way," Wagner told public radio Oe1 Monday, after having handed in his withdrawal on Sunday evening.

The bishop of the Linz diocese, where Wagner should have served as auxiliary bishop, was among those welcoming the resignation. "This decision brought about a new situation, and I feel somewhat relieved," Bishop Ludwig Schwarz said.

Clerics and liberal Catholic lay activists had expressed shock over Wagner's nomination in late January, which was announced shortly after Pope Benedict XVI revoked the excommunication of Holocaust-denying Bishop Richard Williamson.

A group of senior priests said in a statement last week that Wagner's nomination was "unacceptable." A lay organization called for believers to withhold their church tax, while an above-average number of Catholics left the Church in recent weeks.

Wagner had also linked JK Rowling's Harry Potter books to "the work of the devil" and had said in an interview that homosexuality was curable.

The Vatican accepted Wagner's decision, according to media reports. Wagner said he would continue serving as a priest in his parish in Windischgarsten in the Upper Austria province. (dpa)