Pope could soon decide fate of Spain bishop accused of abuse, under investigation by church

VATICAN CITY (AP) – Pope Leo XIV could soon accept the resignation of an ailing Spanish bishop who is under church investigation for allegedly sexually abusing a young seminarian in the 1990s, the head of the Spanish Catholic bishops conference said Monday.

Archbishop Luis Javier Argüello García told reporters in St. Peter’s Square that the conference hierarchy had discussed the case with Leo during an audience Monday.

Argüello confirmed a report in El País newspaper that a canonical investigation into Cádiz Bishop Rafael Zornoza, 76, had been opened two weeks ago. It is believed to be the first publicly known church investigation of a Spanish bishop accused of abuse since the Spanish church began reckoning in recent years with a decades-long legacy of abuse and cover-up.

The diocese of Cádiz has denied the accusations against Zornoza but confirmed the investigation was being carried out by the church court in Madrid known as the Rota. In a Nov. 10 statement, the diocese said Zornoza was cooperating with the investigation and had suspended his agenda temporarily “to clarify the facts and to undergo treatment for an aggressive form of cancer.”

“The accusations made, referring to events that took place almost 30 years ago, are very serious and also false,” the statement said.

Spain’s El País daily, which since 2018 has exposed decades of abuse and cover-up in the Spanish Catholic Church, reported earlier this month that Zornoza was accused of abusing a young former seminarian while he was a young priest and directed the diocesan seminary in Getafe.

The report, quoting a letter the former seminarian wrote the Vatican over the summer, said Zornoza fondled him and regularly slept with him from when he was 14-21. The former seminarian’s letter said Zornoza heard his confession and persuaded him to see a psychiatrist to “cure” his homosexuality.

Speaking to reporters, Argüello insisted both on the right of the victim to come forward “and the right to the presumption of innocence.”

Zornoza last year had offered his resignation when he turned 75, the mandatory retirement age for bishops, but it wasn’t immediately accepted.

Argüello suggested that Leo could soon accept the resignation and name a temporary replacement to run the diocese, even while the investigation continues.

“They have told us that it may be accepted,” he said. “That it will be accepted on a specific date and time, no, but that it may be accepted, yes.”

El País said Zornoza was believed to be the first Spanish Catholic bishop publicly known to be investigated for allegations of child sexual abuse. His case was one of several that have come to light in recent years as the once-staunchly Catholic Spain has been rocked by revelations of abuse and cover-up by priests.

In 2023, Spain’s first official probe of abuse indicated that the number of victims could run into hundreds of thousands, based on a survey that was part of a report by the office of Spain’s ombudsman. The ombudsman conducted an 18-month independent investigation of 487 cases involving alleged victims who spoke with the ombudsman’s team.

Spain’s Catholic bishops apologized but dismissed the interpretations of the ombudsman report as a “lie,” arguing that many more people had been abused outside of the church.

The Spanish Catholic hierarchy then did its own report, saying in 2024 that it had found evidence of 728 sexual abusers within the church since 1945. It then launched a plan to compensate victims, after Spain’s government approved a plan to force the church to pay economic reparations.