SAN DIEGO (CA)
Patch
Posted by Gina Tenorio (Editor) , September 18, 2013
The resignation of Bishop Robert Brom after 24 years as head of the Catholic Diocese of San Diego became official today, and he was succeeded by Bishop Cirilo Flores.
Catholic bishops are required to step down as of their 75th birthday, according to the diocese, which said the resignation, and promotion of Flores, was accepted by Pope Francis.
Brom said he was grateful to God for his blessings during both joyful and challenging times as the leader of the diocese, and thankful for the help of other church officials and followers.
“In retirement here, I hope that, without the demands of administration and insofar as health permits, there will be ministerial needs to which I will be able to respond,” Brom said. “In particular, I want to promote missionary discipleship as our common way to participate in the new evangelization, and to foster priestly vocations.”
The Catholic church was hit worldwide with numerous accusations and lawsuits over sex abuse by priests during Brom’s tenure as bishop. In 2007, he approved the second-highest settlement in the U.S. for priest sex abuse cases, $198.1 million for 144 victims.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.