Pope Francis has accepted the resignation of Washington Cardinal Donald Wuerl who has been implicated in the sexual abuse scandal that has rocked the Roman Catholic Church.
Earlier this year, Wuerl replaced Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, the Archbishop of Washington, D.C., who was accused of sexual misconduct.
However, Wuerl came under scrutiny for his handling of sex abuse cases when he was bishop of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, between 1988 and 2006.
A Pennsylvania grand jury found in August that more 300 Catholic priests sexually abused at least 1,000 children over the last 70 years and church leaders did all they could to cover it up.
Wuerl denied the grand jury allegations that he protected abusive priests. He said he acted with “diligence with concern for the victims and to prevent future acts of abuse.”
Wuerl, who will be 78 in November, technically handed in his resignation at age 75, the normal retirement age for bishops and cardinals. Francis, however, did not accept his resignation at that time.
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