Pope accepts resignation of Los
Angeles auxiliary bishop
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| Pope Francis. |
Pope Francis accepts the resignation of US Bishop Alexander
Salazar, and the Archbishop of Los Angeles releases a letter detailing his
response to an allegation of sexual abuse of a minor made against the auxiliary
bishop.
On Wednesday, Pope Francis accepted the resignation of
Auxiliary Bishop Alexander Salazar of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles in the
United States.
In a letter to the faithful sent the same day, Archbishop
José Gomez detailed the Archdiocese of Los Angeles’ response to an allegation
of sexual abuse made against Bishop Salazar.
He writes: “I regret to inform you that in 2005, a year
after he had been ordained a bishop, the Archdiocese was made aware of an
allegation against Bishop Salazar of misconduct with a minor. Although the
allegation was never directly reported to the Archdiocese, it was investigated
by law enforcement in 2002 and the District Attorney did not prosecute.”
Archbishop Gomez says the accusation “stemmed from alleged
misconduct that was said to have occurred in the 1990s, before he was ordained
a bishop, when he was serving as a parish priest.”
He said the Archdiocese informed the Vatican’s Congregation
for the Doctrine of the Faith, “which conducted an investigation and imposed
certain precautionary measures on the ministry of Bishop Salazar.”
Archbishop Gomez submitted the allegation to the
archdiocese’s independent Clergy Misconduct Oversight Board, which found the
allegations to be credible. He turned the board’s findings and recommendations
“along with my own votum to the Holy See to make its final
determination as to Bishop Salazar’s status.”
Finally, Archbishop Gomez expresses his gratitude for Pope
Francis’ “loving concern for the family of God here in the Archdiocese of Los
Angeles.”
“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,” he writes.
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