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Pope Leo XIV has accepted the resignation of a Spanish bishop under investigation for allegedly sexually abusing a young seminarian in the 1990s. This is the first known instance of the new Pope removing a cleric accused of abuse.
A one-line statement from the Vatican confirmed that Leo had accepted the resignation of Cadiz Bishop Rafael Zornoza, 76. Although no reason was given, Bishop Czornoza submitted his resignation last year at the age of 75, the standard retirement age for bishops.
However it was not acknowledged until El País newspaper reported earlier this month that Zornoza had recently been placed under investigation by a church tribunal. Daily, which has exposed decades of abuse and cover-up since 2018 Spanish Catholic ChurchSaid Zarnowza was accused of abusing a young former seminarian while he was a young priest and directing the diocesan seminary. jetafe,
The report cites a letter written by a former seminarian Vatican Zornoza courted her and regularly slept with her during the summers when he was 14–21 years old. The former seminarian’s letter states that Zornoza heard his confession and persuaded him to see a psychiatrist to “cure” his homosexuality.
The Diocese of Cadiz denied the allegations against Zornoza but confirmed that the investigation was being conducted by a church court. madrid Known as Rota. In a November 10 statement, the diocese said that Zornoza was cooperating with the investigation and that he had temporarily suspended his agenda “to clarify the facts and receive treatment for an aggressive form of cancer.”
“The allegations made here are very serious and false, referring to events that occurred nearly 30 years ago,” the statement said.
It is believed to be the first publicly known case of a bishop retiring and coming under investigation for alleged abuse, as the Spanish Church in recent years has begun to reckon with a decades-long legacy of abuse and cover-ups that has shaken once staunch Catholics. spain,
Leo did not immediately name a temporary leader of the diocese.
In 2023, spainThe first official investigation into the abuses indicates the number of victims could be in the hundreds of thousands, based on a survey that was part of a report by Spain’s ombudsman’s office. The Ombudsman conducted an 18-month independent investigation into 487 cases involving alleged victims who spoke to the Ombudsman’s team.
Spain’s Catholic bishops apologized but dismissed the ombudsman report’s interpretations as “lies”, arguing that many more were abused outside the church.
The Spanish Catholic hierarchy then released its own report, which in 2024 said it had found evidence of 728 sexual abusers within the Church since 1945. After the Spanish government approved a plan to force the Church to pay economic compensation, it launched a plan to compensate the victims.