US bishop quits as Francis launches fresh abuse probe
POPE Francis yesterday accepted the resignation of an American bishop, Michael Bransfield, and at the same time authorised a fellow bishop to investigate allegations Bransfield sexually harassed adults, Vatican officials have said. The development, announced just as a highly anticipated meeting between Francis and US cardinals and bishops was beginning, lent a dramatic twist to the emergency gathering, called to address another scandal involving an ex-US cardinal. Bransfield had been implicated in 2012 in an infamous Philadelphia sex abuse case, but he denied ever abusing anyone and claimed vindication years ago. He continued with his ministry until he offered to retire, as required, when he turned 75 last week. The Vatican said Francis accepted his resignation yesterday, announcing the decision at the exact moment the US delegation was arriving at the Apostolic Palace for the meeting. Francis appointed Baltimore Bishop William Lori to take over Bransfield’s diocese in West Virginia temporarily. Lori said Francis had also instructed him to “conduct an investigation into allegations of sexual harassment of adults against Bishop Bransfield”. The revelation was the latest development in a sequence of events in the US that began with the June announcement that one of the most senior US cardinals, Theodore McCarrick, had been accused of groping a teenage altar boy in the 1970s. Francis removed McCarrick as a cardinal in July after an investigation found the allegation credible.