VATICAN CITY
Reuters
VATICAN CITY | BY PHILIP PULLELLA
Pope Francis has accepted the resignation of a Brazilian bishop who was accused of turning a blind eye to suspected pedophile priests in his diocese, the Vatican said on Wednesday.
The Vatican said Francis had accepted the resignation of Bishop Aldo di Cillo Pagotto of Paraiba, 66, citing a section of Church law under which bishops are obliged to tender their resignation if they are ill or if there is “grave cause”.
Under normal circumstances, he would have remained bishop until he turned 75.
Last year, the Church stripped Pagotto of his power to ordain priests while the accusations against him were being investigated.
Pagatto had been accused of allowing men into seminaries in his diocese to become priests even though they had been rejected from other places in Brazil because they were suspected child abusers.
In a letter posted on the diocese’s website, Pagotto said:
“I welcomed priests and seminarians with the intention of offering them new opportunities in life. Some were later suspected of committing serious wrongdoings … I made mistakes by trusting too much, with naive mercy.”
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