Pope Francis swiftly accepted the resignation of Archbishop André-Joseph Léonard, the Archbishop of Mechelen-Brussels and Primate of Belgium.

“As required by canon law, Archbishop Léonard submitted his letter of resignation on May 6 upon reaching the age of 75. The Belgian archdiocese announced on Monday (June 1) that the Pope had accepted it, despite Archbishop Léonard only being in the position since 2010.

“A Belgian court recently ruled that Archbishop Léonard was guilty of misconduct in failing to take action in a sex abuse case, which dated back to when he was Bishop of Namur, from 1991 to 2010. The court ordered him to pay €10,000 to a former Catholic seminarian, Joel Devillet, who was sexually abused as a choirboy in Aubange by a Catholic abbot, Fr Gilbert Hubermont.”

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