1984: Resigned as Bishop of Strasbourg, being replaced by Msgr. Charles-Amarin Brand
1984–1998: Very active during his retirement, he wrote several books and appeared often in the news media. He died two days before his 90th birthday.
Controversy
In April 1981, Elchinger remarked at a press conference, "I consider homosexuality a sickness." This prompted the concentration camp deportee, Pierre Seel, to write an open letter to the Bishop on 18 November, and to speak publicly for the first time about his experiences and wartime abuses he had faced as a homosexual.
