ROME — Pope Francis accepted the resignation of a Los Angeles auxiliary bishop after an archdiocese oversight board found “credible” an allegation of sexual misconduct with a minor, the Vatican said Wednesday.
In announcing the resignation of Auxiliary Bishop Alexander Salazar, the Vatican did not provide an explanation. But a separate statement from the Archdiocese of Los Angeles said that Salazar’s alleged misconduct occurred in the 1990s and that a board reviewing the case determined that Salazar “should not have faculties to minister.”
Los Angeles Archbishop José H. Gomez forwarded that recommendation to the Holy See.
“These decisions have been made out of deep concern for the healing and reconciliation of abuse victims and for the good of the Church’s mission,” Gomez wrote in a letter to church members, released at the same time as the Vatican announcement.
For Francis and the scandal-shaken Catholic Church, the resignation marks just the latest in a series of alleged misconduct cases involving powerful figures within the faith. The string of cases highlights the difficulty the Vatican has faced in ending the scourge of clerical sexual abuse and in holding accountable those in the high ranks of the church.
The statement by the Archdiocese of Los Angeles on Wednesday laid out a timeline of events that spanned several decades, but it did not make clear why Salazar was disciplined only now.
The archdiocese said the allegation was reported directly to law enforcement in 2002; authorities investigated but did not press charges.
The statement said the archdiocese was first informed — “through a third party” — of the allegation against Salazar in 2005. Cardinal Roger Mahony, then the archbishop of Los Angeles, forwarded the allegation to the powerful Vatican body that investigates abuse cases.
That office, known as the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, investigated and “permitted Bishop Salazar to remain in ministry subject to certain precautionary conditions, which he has respected.”
The Archdiocese of Los Angeles did not elaborate on those precautionary measures.
The statement said that Salazar has denied the allegation and that the archdiocese has not received other accusations against him.
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