Accountability: Benedict Accepts a Bishop's Resignation

It has taken a while, but Pope Benedict is expected to accept a further Irish bishop's resignation.

From BBC News:

Pope accepts Bishop Moriarty's resignation

Pope Benedict XVI is expected to accept the resignation of the Bishop of Kildare on Thursday.

Bishop James Moriarty offered to resign in December following publication of the Murphy Report into sexual abuse in the Catholic Church.

Bishop Moriarty, who served as an auxiliary bishop in Dublin from 1991-2002, was barely criticised in the Murphy Report.

He said, however, that he "should have challenged the prevailing culture".

Bishop Moriarty told the Irish Catholic newspaper he did not anticipate resigning when he first read the Murphy Report because he was not directly criticised.

New beginning

"However, renewal must begin with accepting responsibility for the past," he said.

(Read the full report)