Dec. 19 (UPI) -- The resignation of a Los Angeles auxiliary bishop was accepted by the pope, the Vatican announced on Wednesday.
Bishop Alexander Salazar, who most recently served in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles' office of ethnic ministries, was investigated by local law enforcement in 2002 and by Vatican investigators in 2005. Although never charged, Salazar was accused of misconduct with a minor while he was a parish priest, and not a bishop, in the 1990s.
"The Archdiocese referred the matter to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith at the Holy See, which conducted an investigation and imposed certain precautionary measures on the ministry of Bishop Salazar," Archbishop of Los Angeles Jose Gomez said in a letter on Wednesday.
The archdiocese has not provided information regarding the case, and Salazar has consistently denied wrongdoing.
The announcement of Salazar's resignation came days after the archdiocese released an updated list of priests who it considered were credibly accused of sexually abusing of minors over the past 70 years.
Salazar's resignation follows an announcement by Catholic bishops in the United States of a series of reforms to resolve abuse cases. The bishops have been criticized for a failure of accountability in handling the matters.
