Santiago, Chile - A Chilean bishop accused of sexual abuse of a minor has resigned his position, saying he never meant to harm anyone.
Monsignor Marco Antonio Ordenes, the bishop of the city of Iquique, was the highest ranking Roman Catholic priest to be caught in a series of child sex abuse scandals that have so far implicated about 20 priests.
“God is my witness, I have always tried to serve without interest. Many times I erred, but I never sought to hurt, offend or manipulate anybody,” he said.
The Vatican issued a statement Tuesday saying Pope Benedict XVI had accepted his resignation.
Ordenes told a news conference he was resigning to keep his personal problems from affecting Chile's Roman Catholic church, which has been forced to apologize for the sex scandals.
The church disclosed last week that Ordenes, 47, was investigating accusations brought by a former altar boy, Rodrigo Pinto, accused him of “contacts of a sexual connotation.” Pinto said he was 15 at the time.
In an interview over the weekend with the newspaper La Tercera, Ordenes acknowledged engaging in an “imprudent act” with Pinto, but insisted that he was not a minor at the time.
The bishop also denied being a pedophile or a homosexual. - Sapa-AFP