VATICAN CITY, October 15, 2018 (LifeSiteNews) – Pope Francis has removed two Chilean bishops accused of sexually assaulting minors from the clerical state.
On Saturday, October 13, the Vatican released a detailed statement saying that the Holy Father had dismissed Francisco José Cox Huneeus, 84, an Archbishop Emeritus of La Serena, and Marco Antonio Órdenes Fernández, 53, Bishop Emeritus of Iquique, from the priesthood.
The Vatican statement said that “the decision adopted by the Pope on Thursday, October 11, 2018, is not subject to appeal.” It followed a meeting between the pontiff and the Chilean president, Sebastián Piñera.
Cox has been accused of abuse by about a dozen people over several decades. A member of the Schonstatt Fathers, Cox retired to Vallendar, Germany, where his order has its headquarters, after he was diagnosed with cancer in 2012. A Chilean television crew attempted to interview him there about the allegations but he refused to discuss them. According to the UK’s Catholic Herald, there are reports Cox is suffering from dementia.
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