Pope Francis accepted the resignations of two U.S. Catholic bishops today in the wake of a child sex abuse scandal in St. Paul, Minnesota. Archbishop John C. Nienstedt and Auxillary Bishop Lee A. Piché have quit their posts after Minnesota prosecutors charged the archdiocese with the “mishandling of repeated complaints of sexual misconduct against a priest,” per The New York Times.
The charges concern the 2012 jailing of Minnesota priest Curtis Wehmeyer, who is currently serving time for sexually abusing minors and possession of child pornography. Three male victims accused Wehmeyer of preying on them during camping trips between 2008 and 2010, plying them with alcohol and drugs before sexually abusing them.
According to the AFP, Minnesota prosecutorsnow say they have “substantial evidence that senior Church officials failed to act on repeated warnings from parents and others that the priest was a danger to children.” While Nienstedt and Piché have not been charged, they are named in the complaint as leaders who failed to take the warnings about Wehmeyer seriously.
For his part, Nienstedt told the Times he would “leave with a clear conscience knowing that my team and I have put in place solid protocols to ensure the protection of minors and vulnerable adults.”
Gawker