Catholic bishop resigns after admitting he is the father of two teenagers
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The pope has accepted the early resignation of a Los Angeles bishop who recently acknowledged being the father of two teenagers.
Los Angeles Auxiliary Bishop Gabino Zavala, 60, resigned Wednesday under the code of canon law that lets bishops step down earlier than the normal retirement age of 75 if they're sick or for some other reason that makes them unfit for office.
In a letter to the faithful, Los Angeles Archbishop Jose Gomez said Zavala had told him in December that he had two children who lived with their mother in a different state.
Bishop Gabino Zavala, 60, resigned to the Pope after revealing he fathered two teenage children, who live with their mother in another state. Their identities have not been revealed
Zavala subsequently submitted his resignation to the pope.
The archdiocese asked for prayers for those involved as it revealed it has offered spiritual and financial aid to help the children with college costs, Gomez said in the letter posted on the blog of the Catholic News Service.
'The archdiocese has reached out to the mother and children to provide spiritual care as well as funding to assist the children with college costs.
'The family's identity is not known to the public, and I wish to respect their right to privacy,' Archbishop Gomez said.
Zavala' s secret family is the latest blight on the archdiocese, which has paid out hundreds of millions in settlement claims over sex abuse
Roman Catholic priests are required to be celibate, though Eastern rite priests can be married and married Anglican priests who convert can become Catholic priests.
The celibacy requirement is often blamed for discouraging many men who would otherwise consider the priesthood.
Zavala's resignation under a cloud was the latest headache for the diocese, which paid a $660 million settlement in 2007 for cases of sexual abuse going as far back at the 1940.
Zavala was also the latest Catholic Church official who was found to have had a secret family.
The late leader of the Legionaries of Christ religious order, Father Marcial Maciel, who died in 2008 at the age of 87, lived a double life for decades that was not discovered until after his death.
Maciel, a Mexican, was found to have abused seminarians. He was also discovered to have had a mistress with whom he had fathered several children.
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