Pope Accepts Resignation of Bishop

An archbishop’s resignation was accepted Tuesday, a move that parishioners and priests hoped will signal the start of the Roman Catholic Church’s recovery from a series of sex scandals in New Mexico.

Pope John Paul II accepted the resignation of Archbishop Robert F. Sanchez, 59, the nation’s first Latino archbishop. Sanchez offered to step down March 19 after allegations surfaced that he had sex with several women in the 1970s and 1980s, when at least some of them were teen-agers.

Sanchez issued a statement March 9 asking forgiveness for any pain caused by the allegations, but he has neither confirmed nor denied them.

The Pope appointed Bishop Michael J. Sheehan of Lubbock, Tex., as acting head of the Santa Fe archdiocese, which is based in Albuquerque and covers 300,000 Catholics in 90 parishes.

The Vatican made no comment on Sanchez’s resignation request other than saying that it had been submitted under church law dealing with cases of illness or other serious reasons that prevent a bishop from carrying out his duties.

Three women said on the CBS news program “60 Minutes” on March 21 that Sanchez sexually assaulted them when they were teen-agers in the 1970s.

A fourth woman alleged that she was raped by the archbishop in 1973. She said she confronted him two years ago and was paid $25,000 to keep quiet and seek therapy.

Catholic clergy take a vow of celibacy. But in recent years the church has been beset by scandals involving priests’ sexual relationships with women or molestation of boys. In apparent response, Pope John Paul has stepped up calls for clergy to remain celibate while asking forgiveness for their “failings.”

In the Santa Fe archdiocese, about a dozen lawsuits have been filed in the last year alleging that priests and former priests sexually molested more than 30 people, many of them when they were children in the 1960s and 1970s.

Parishioner Richard Lucero of Santa Fe said Tuesday that he hopes the controversy will die down now. “People are judging the whole church by a couple of men who fell out of grace,” he said.

Sheehan will continue serving as bishop in Lubbock and will commute to Albuquerque, about 250 miles away. Selection of a permanent archbishop is expected to take as long as a year.

Sheehan told reporters in Lubbock that he has no blueprint but truth and directness for handling what he called a formidable challenge.

“We’ll be getting through the pain of these difficult days just like the church gets through the pain of Holy Week and Good Friday,” he said.

Sheehan said he spoke by telephone Monday with Sanchez, who he said offered his prayers and support. He said Sanchez was in good spirits, “and again he apologized for his failings.”

Sheehan, 53, was the first bishop to head the Lubbock diocese when it was created in June, 1983. He was at the time the youngest U.S. bishop.