POPE Leo XIV has accepted the resignation of the Bishop of Cadiz after an official investigation was launched into an allegation of historic child sexual abuse.
In a one-line statement released on Saturday, the Vatican confirmed that Rafael Zornoza would no longer serve as the Bishop of Cadiz and Ceuta – the first known time that the new American pontiff has removed a bishop accused of abuse.
Zornoza is accused of sexually abusing a minor between the ages of 14 to 21 in Getafe, near Madrid, in the late 1990s when he was a priest of the Diocese of Getafe and rector of the seminary.
Now aged 76, Zornoza’s case marks the first time a sitting Catholic bishop responsible for overseeing a given region in Spain has been investigated for alleged child sexual abuse.
In a letter obtained by Spanish newspaper El País, the alleged victim says Zornoza abused him for years, often entering his room at night to touch and kiss him.
He says the alleged abuse started when he was aged just 14 and continued into adulthood.
“It was at night when he came to the room and I suffered the abuse. He got into my bed, caressed me and kissed me,” the letter reads.
“In the mornings I also woke up the same way. At that time, I never said anything to him – paralysis controlled me.”
Ten years after leaving the seminary, the alleged victim says he sent Zornoza an email in which he accused him of abuse and manipulation.
However, the bishop failed to respond.
A complaint was then formally launched earlier this summer – although safeguarding concerns have been raised after it emerged that the bishop was allowed to remain in his position until this month.
The role includes contact with minors.
READ MORE: Spanish bishops admit there have been over 900 victims of child abuse since 1945
In a statement, the Diocese of Cadiz and Ceuta said: “The accusations made, referring to events that took place almost thirty years ago, are very serious and also false.”
According to El Pais, the Cadiz diocese is among the least cooperative in Spain when providing information on clerical abuse.
More than 1,500 clergy members in Spain have been accused of sexual abuse, according to the newspaper.
A 2023 investigation by Spain’s ombudsman found that 0.6% of the country’s adult population had suffered sexual abuse from a clergy member as a child – amounting to more than 200,000 victims.
Zornoza was named as Bishop of Cadiz and Ceuta by Pope Benedict XVI in 2011 following the resignation of Antonio Ceballos Atienza.
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