Vatican City, Nov 22 (EFE).- Pope Leo XIV has accepted the resignation of Bishop of Cádiz Rafael Zornoza, who had submitted it 15 months ago upon reaching the retirement age for prelates. However, the decision comes after accusations of sexual abuse of a minor when he was at the seminary in Getafe, a Spanish town south of Madrid. In its Saturday bulletin, the Vatican communicated the acceptance of the resignation by the pope, without explaining (as is customary) the reasons for the decision. For now, no successor has been appointed, and the Auxiliary Bishop of Seville, Ramón Valdivia, has been appointed Apostolic Administrator, according to the Spanish Episcopal Conference. Zornoza, as is obligatory for prelates, offered his position to the pope fifteen months ago upon turning 75, but it had not been accepted due to the arrival of the new pontiff. It is quite common for a prelate to remain in the diocese for some time longer while a successor is sought. Only at the end of September did Leo XIV choose his successor as prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops, the Italian Filippo Iannone, who took office on October 15 and is ultimately responsible for presenting the pope with the elections and resignations of prelates. The publication by the newspaper 'El País' of the complaint of abuse of a minor between 1994 and the early 2000s, when Zornoza was a priest and directed the seminary of the Madrid diocese of Getafe, and the news that he is being investigated may have accelerated the decision of Leo XIV. The newspaper reported that Zornoza has been under investigation for four months by the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith for a probable crime of sexual abuse of a minor when he was a priest in the 90s. The president of the Spanish Episcopal Conference, Luis Argüello, explained this week that the pope was aware of the case after a meeting with him before the Plenary Assembly and recalled that the resignation was at the pontiff's discretion. In turn, Leo XIV explained when responding to a question from the media last Tuesday that 'it is necessary to allow the investigation to continue' in the Vatican and then, once concluded, 'the consequences' will follow. Zornoza defended his innocence and temporarily suspended his agenda 'to clarify the facts and to undergo treatment for an aggressive cancer of which he had not been previously informed.'
