VATICAN CITY - Pope John Paul II accepted the resignation Tuesday of an Argentine archbishop who has been accused of sexually abusing seminarians, the Vatican said.
Archbishop Edgardo Storni, 66, of Santa Fe de la Vera Cruz is one of the highest-ranking officials brought down by sex abuse allegations that have been rocking the Roman Catholic Church this year.
He offered his resignation last week following allegations in a book that he sexually abused at least 47 men in the seminary.
Storni, archbishop there since 1984, had said that the resignation "in no way signifies guilt on my part nor does it mean I accept the allegations. God is my judge."
The book by Olga Wornat titled "Nuestra Santa Madre," (Our Holy Mother) claimed that the Vatican investigated Storni in 1994 for possible sexual abuses but dropped the case after concluding there was not enough evidence to support the allegations.
A successor to Storni was not immediately named.
Storni's resignation comes after recent sex scandals engulfing the Church in the United States, Ireland, Poland and elsewhere.