Zimbabwean Catholic Archbishop Pius Ncube, an outspoken critic of President Robert Mugabe, resigned today, two months after being sued for adultery in a case which he called a vicious government-backed attack.
The 60-year-old cleric, head of the southern Bulawayo archdiocese since 1997, said in a statement he was resigning to protect the Church, but would defend himself against the adultery charges in court.
"I wrote to the Pope within days of what was obviously a state-driven, vicious attack not just on myself but by proxy on the Catholic Church in Zimbabwe," Archbishop Ncube said.
The Vatican said in a one-sentence statement that Pope Benedict had accepted Archbishop Ncube's resignation under an article of Church law which covers clergy who can no longer perform their duties for health reasons. It has also sometimes been used in cases of clerics who brought their office into disrepute.
In July, Zimbabwe's state-run media published what it claimed were photos of Archbishop Ncube in bed with a woman.
The cleric has accused Mr Mugabe and his government of human rights abuses and suppressing political dissent. In his statement, Archbishop Ncube vowed he would remain vocal against Mr Mugabe and hinted he might go into politics.
"In order to spare my fellow bishops and the body of the Church any further attacks, I decided this (resignation) was the best course of action."
He added that he would face his accusers in court as an individual.