Pope Francis has accepted the
resignation of a British bishop who stood down after admitting to an affair
with a married parishioner, the Vatican said on Monday.
“The Holy Father Francis has
accepted the resignation of Bishop Kieran Conry from the dioceses of Arundel
and Brighton,” a statement said.
Ashiwaju,org has it that the lingering news has
been a serious problem in the God’s vine yard in recent times.
Conry, 64, had said in a letter to
his parishioners that he had veered from the precepts of the Catholic church
but underscored that his actions “were not illegal and did not involve minors.”
According to reports in the British
press, Conry, who was appointed by Pope John Paul II in 2001 as bishop of
Arundel and Brighton in southeast England, had an affair with a married woman.
The affair was exposed when the
estranged husband of the woman hired a private detective to follow his wife
when their marriage broke down.
The Archbishop of Southwark Peter
Smith has been named the Apostolic Administrator of the diocese until a new
bishop takes up the office.
The head of the Catholic church in
England and Wales, Vincent Nichols, said it was a “difficult and sad moment”.