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Archbishop of Boston, supporter of victims of sexual abuse, resigns

2024-08-05 20:19:22, Kosova & Bota CNA
Archbishop of Boston, supporter of victims of sexual abuse, resigns
Sean O'Malley. Source, Reuters

US Cardinal Sean O'Malley, known for championing sexual abuse survivors and pushing for reforms in the Catholic Church, has resigned as Archbishop of Boston, the Vatican announced on Monday.

The octogenarian will be replaced by Richard Henning, the 59-year-old Bishop of Providence, to lead the fourth-largest diocese in the United States, the Vatican said in a statement.

According to the announcement, Pope Francis has accepted Mr. O'Malley's resignation, but the reason for his departure has not been given.

In the Catholic Church, bishops who lead a diocese usually retire when they turn 75, but the pope can ask them to stay on longer.

For now, Bishop O'Malley remains head of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, a body created by Pope Francis to combat pedophilia by priests. The bishop has led this Commission since 2014.

Bishop O'Malley's resignation ends a two-decade chapter of Catholic leadership in Boston, a city dominated by Italian and Irish communities. The global scandal over child sexual abuse by clergy erupted in Boston in 2002, a year before he was commissioned.

An ally of Pope Francis, Bishop O'Malley is part of the Franciscan order, the Friars Minor Capuchin. He spent his early years as a priest building friendly relations with the Hispanic immigrant community in the Diocese of Washington.

Before arriving in Boston, Bishop O'Malley served as bishop of Saint Thomas, a diocese covering the entire United States Virgin Islands, and later of Fall River, Massachusetts, south of Boston.

In Fall River and the diocese of Palm Beach, Florida, he dealt with the fallout from scandals involving the sexual abuse of minors by priests.

Yet he rose to prominence in Boston, managing what at the time was the largest clergy sex abuse scandal in the United States, later depicted in the Oscar-winning movie Spotlight.

Known for its rapport with victims and speed in resolving cases, under Bishop O'Malley's watch, the archdiocese agreed to pay $85 million to settle about 550 lawsuits from victims./ VOA





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