“I am incredulous and pained by the accusations. This is unacceptable behavior for a priest, a Christian and even for a man.”

48-year-old priest, the Rev. Andrea Contin, is facing defrocking as well as judicial proceedings amid accusations he had up to 30 lovers, some of whom he took to a swingers’ resort in France.

Contin was removed from his parish of San Lazzaro after three women came forward with complaints against him in December. Bishop Claudio Cipolla of Padua cut short a visit to Latin America to deal with the scandal.

“I am incredulous and pained by the accusations,” Cipolla said at a news conference last month. “This is unacceptable behavior for a priest, a Christian and even for a man.”

One woman, who claims to have been Contin’s lover for more than three years, claimed the priest carried sex toys and bondage equipment, prostituted his lovers on wife-swapping websites and also invited other priests from the area to sex parties.

“Even if, at the end of this affair, there are no legal consequences, we have a duty by canon law to take disciplinary action,” Cipolla said.

He also said Pope Francis telephoned him personally at the end of January to offer his support and urge him to stay “strong.”

Since his election the pope has taken a tough line on ethical behavior in the church, though he has also recognized the reality of human imperfection and personal flaws.

In recent weeks the pontiff has spoken out many times against “temptation,” and last week he told a gathering of clergy at the Basilica of St. John Lateran in Rome that faith could not progress without the challenge of temptation.

“Temptation is always present in our lives,” he said.

Austen Ivereigh, commentator and author of The Great Reformer: Francis and the Making of a Radical Pope, said the pope distinguished between sinfulness and corruption and was intent on “rooting out” corruption inside the church.

“The remedy for those who succumb to temptation is forgiveness and a fresh start,” he said.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, DCalif., the top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, said the process of replacing U.S. attorneys is usually more gradual, with the holdovers leaving over time to “protect the independence of our prosecutors and avoid disrupting ongoing federal cases.”

Feinstein also noted that Sessions has recused himself from involvement in any investigation of Russia and the Trump campaign, so “the independence of federal prosecutors could not be more important. That’s why many of us have called for the appointment of a special prosecutor.”

Washington attorney Chuck Cooper, an assistant attorney general during the Ronald Reagan administration whom Trump considered for the post of solicitor general, said there is no connection between replacing U.S. attorneys and any investigation of Russia.

To suggest otherwise, he said, is “ludicrous” and “transparent political posturing” by Trump opponents.

“What’s going on here is the routine transfer of power from one administration to the other,” Cooper said. “Elections have consequences. These are political appointees serving at the pleasure of the president.”

In any case, the appointment of any special prosecutor would be at the discretion of the attorney general — or, given Sessions’ recusal, his deputy.

Some U.S. attorneys will be retained because the Trump administration will not accept their resignations.

Flores said Trump himself called two U.S. attorneys to tell them they are being kept on: Dana Boente of Virginia, who is currently serving as acting deputy attorney general, and Rod Rosenstein of Maryland, nominated by Trump to be Sessions’ deputy full time.

As for the ongoing Russia inquiry, a number of FBI offices are participating, including the New York office. Any criminal allegations would be recommended to the deputy attorney general.

It’s unclear to what extent any of the dismissed U.S. attorneys were involved in the Russia probe. But as a U.S. attorney in New York, Bharara likely would have been in a position to know whether Trump Tower had been bugged by federal investigators, as the president has claimed.

A week ago, Trump accused President Obama of having him wiretapped in the run-up to the election. Trump offered no proof and has asked Congress to investigate his claim.