Pope Benedict XVI on Thursday accepted the resignation of a US bishop
accused of allowing an alleged paedophile priest from his diocese to
flee to Mexico, as the Vatican takes action on abuses.
Bishop
Daniel Walsh of the diocese of Santa Rosa in California resigned under
an article in Catholic Church law invoking a "grave cause", which can
include a failure by the prelate in question to denounce a case of
paedophilia.
Walsh, 74, is one year younger than the minimum retirement age for bishops.
Benedict
last year called for a zero tolerance approach to child abuse by
clergymen and called on bishops to work together with local law
enforcement, following thousands of paedophile scandals across Europe
and the United States.
Father Xavier Ochoa admitted to the bishop
in April 2006 that he had abused young boys but the police were only
told three days later by a diocesan lawyer.
By that time, Ochoa had fled
to Mexico where he is still at large.
The diocese was ordered to
pay five million dollars (3.5 million euros) to the three victims, as
well as 20,000 dollars from Walsh personally.
The alleged acts committed by Ochoa included rape and forced oral sex.