VATICAN: The Catholic Church was rocked by yet another alleged sex abuse scandal yesterday when Pope John Paul II accepted the resignation of Archbishop Edgardo Storni, of Argentina, a prelate accused of sexually abusing seminarians.
A one-sentence statement in yesterday's Vatican Bollettino said the Pope had accepted Archbishop Storni's resignation in accordance with Article 401, paragraph 2 of the Canon Law Code.
This was the article invoked last April when the Pope accepted the resignation of the Bishop of Ferns, Dr Brendan Comiskey.
The article in question reads: "A diocesan bishop is earnestly requested to present his resignation when he has become less than able to fulfil his office due to ill-health or another serious reason".
Inevitably, the Vatican has offered no comment on the nature of the other "serious reason" that prompted Archbishop Storni to announce his resignation in Argentina last week.
That came just one month after the publication of a book, Nuestra Santa Madre (Our Holy Mother), containing allegations that the archbishop had abused no fewer than 47 students at a seminary in his archdiocese of Santa Fe de La Vera Cruz, some 300 miles north-east of Buenos Aires.
The book also alleged that the Vatican had investigated Archbishop Storni in 1994 for possible sexual abuse but had dropped the case for lack of evidence supporting the serious allegations.
The book, written by Olga Wornat, has not only prompted an Argentine judicial investigation but has also led to protests outside the archbishop's church.
Seven fellow priests in Santa Fe also issued a public apology last month for any wrongdoing by Archbishop Storni, asking to be pardoned for their possible "sins of omission".
Announcing his resignation last week, however, Archbishop Storni defiantly proclaimed his innocence.
He said: "My resignation in no way signifies guilt on my part, nor does it mean I accept the allegations. God is my judge".