Pope Francis has accepted the resignation of an auxiliary bishop in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, the archdiocese led by one of his closest aides, Cardinal Oscar Rodriguez Maradiaga. The bishop, Juan José Pineda Fasquelle, aged 57, has recently faced allegations of sexual and financial misconduct.
At the end of last year the Pope sent Argentine Bishop Jorge Pedro Casaretto to investigate alleged financial improprieties in the Archdiocese of Tegucigalpa with allegations that Bishop Pineda mismanaged funds.
The National Catholic Register later reported that two former seminarians in Honduras alleged the bishop made unwanted sexual advances to them while steps had been taken to keep the bishop away from the seminary.
While Bishop Pineda is still 18 years away from the episcopal retirement age canon law states that a bishop can offer to stand down when he is unable to carry out his duties due to “ill health or some other grave cause”.
Bishop Pineda said that he had
“tried with all my heart” to serve the “People of God” among his flock. “If I succeeded, blessed be God. If I failed you, I apologise.”
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