An Indonesian bishop has resigned following allegations that he embezzled church funds and conducted a relationship with a woman, local media reported said on Thursday.
Pope Francis accepted the resignation of Bishop Hubertus Leteng of Indonesia’s Ruteng diocese and assigned the bishop of Denpasar to fill the vacant position until a replacement can be found.
The Ruteng diocese announced the resignation in a statement and declined to make any further comment.
Bishop Leteng had allegedly embezzled around one billion rupiah (100,000 dollars) and had secret relationship with a woman.
Rumours of the scandal had surfaced in 2014 and again in June when dozens of priests resigned in protest over the bishop’s behaviour.
“The Vatican sent a representative to investigate the scandal in August,’’ local media reported. (NAN)