Catholic Bishops Who Resigned in Sexual Misconduct Scandals
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Roman Catholic bishops in the United States and worldwide who have resigned following allegations of sexual misconduct:
-Bishop J. Kendrick Williams of Lexington, Ky., on Tuesday, after being accused of molesting youngsters decades ago. Williams, 65, denied the allegations brought against him by three men.
-Auxiliary Bishop James F. McCarthy, a pastor in the Archdiocese of New York, on Tuesday, after the diocese said he admitted to several affairs with women.
-Milwaukee Archbishop Rembert Weakland, in May, after revelation of a secret $450,000 payment to a man who accused him of attempted sexual assault. Weakland admitted an "inappropriate relationship" with the man but denied abusing anyone. Weakland had already offered his resignation to the Vatican upon reaching the mandatory retirement age of 75, but Rome granted his request for immediate resignation when the scandal broke.
-Bishop Anthony O'Connell of Palm Beach, Fla., in March, after admitting that when he was the rector of a Missouri seminary he repeatedly abused an underage student. Three other men later filed lawsuits.
-O'Connell's Palm Beach predecessor, Bishop J. Keith Symons, in 1998, after admitting to past molestation of five boys in three parishes.
-Archbishop Robert Sanchez of Santa Fe, N.M., in 1993. He was accused of involvement with three teenage girls and admitted other relationships with adult women.
-The late Archbishop Eugene Marino of Atlanta, in 1990, upon admitting involvement with a woman parishioner.
In other nations:
-Auxiliary Bishop Franziskus Eisenbach of Mainz, Germany, in April, after a woman accused him of sexual abuse and injuries during an exorcism. The Vatican said the resignation was no admission of guilt.
-Archbishop Juliusz Paetz of Poznan, Poland, in March, amid allegations of past sexual harassment from several priests, which he denied.
-Cardinal Hans Hermann Groer, primate of Austria, in 1995. He faced molesting accusations from former high school boys and went into exile, but neither Groer nor the Vatican directly admitted guilt.