Pope Francis has accepted the resignations of two U.S. priests who have been accused of covering up for a Senior clergy who had been sexually abusing minors, the Vatican confirmed in a statement on Monday.
The statement noted that the two priests - Archbishop of St Paul, John Nienstadt, and Lee Anthony Piche, a deputy bishop in Minneapolis - had failed to take action to charges of sex abuse made by a priest, Press TV reported.
Their resignations come two years after a priest from Minnesota, Curtis Wehmeyer, was jailed in 2012 for sexually abusing minors and child pornography possession.
The conviction of Wehmeyer was followed by the St. Paul Archbishop and the Minneapolis deputy bishop being charged with six counts for failure to protect minors last June 5.
Prosecutors were able to present enough evidence to the court that the officials had failed to heed the warnings from parents and other people in the community that the pedophile priest was a danger to children, Agence France-Presse reported.
