By Jennifer Rosinski
Boston Herald
February 12, 2004

http://news.bostonherald.com/localRegional/localRegional.bg?articleid=1891&format=

The bishop of the Springfield diocese resigned yesterday citing health problems amid new allegations he sexually assaulted two boys three decades ago while a priest.

Bishop Thomas Dupre is accused of abusing the boys in the 1970s by the mother of one of the alleged victims, according to the The Republican of Springfield. The woman, a diocesan school worker, wrote the bishop a letter about the allegations last year.

But Monsignor Richard Sniezyk, who will temporarily head the diocese, said in a statement no one has ever come forward to allege abuse at the hands of the bishop.

“I can assure you if any individual brought forth a complaint against any member of the diocesan community, including the Bishop, it would be thoroughly investigated,'' he said.

Dupre had planned to retire since at least November, the month he turned 70 and submitted a letter of intent to the Vatican, said Mark Dupont, a diocese spokesman.

Pope John Paul II accepted Dupre's resignation yesterday morning.

Dupre's departure comes five years before the typical retirement age of 75 and weeks after the Vatican approved his petition to defrock convicted pedophile priest Richard Lavigne, who is also a suspect in the 1972 murder of altar boy Danny Croteau.

(The Associated Press contributed to this report.)