WASHINGTON, May 16 (UPI) -- The Vatican has accepted the resignation of two U.S. Roman Catholic bishops, including Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, who reached the retirement age of 75.
The archdiocese of Washington said Bishop Donald Wuerl, currently overseeing the diocese in Pittsburgh, would replace McCarrick. Wuerl, 65, is to be installed on June 22, the archdiocese said on its Web site.
McCarrick, who has overseen the Washington diocese for five years, was a popular leader and guided an aggressive fundraising campaign to support Catholic charities in the area.
Pope Benedict XVI also accepted the resignation of Bishop Joseph Imesch of Joliet, Ill. He is to be replaced by Monsignor James Sartain, from Little Rock, Ark., The Chicago Tribune reported.
Imesch has been at the center of a sexual abuse controversy, with victims rights supporters alleging he helped cover-up the scandal. He ordered the posting of names of priests suspected of sexual abuse on the diocese Web site last month, the newspaper said.
