Pope John Paul II has named the bishop who investigated the seminary child pornography scandal in Austria to replace the man who resigned over the case, the Vatican said Thursday.
John Paul accepted the resignation of Bishop Kurt Krenn as head of the diocese of St. Poelten and named as his successor Bishop Klaus Kueng, who had been appointed by the Vatican to investigate the scandal.
The scandal rocked Austria's Roman Catholic Church and aggravated an exodus of Catholics from the church.
Krenn, who was in charge of the seminary, resigned last week amid an uproar over his handling of the affair.
Kueng, 64, has been serving as bishop of the diocese of Feldkirch in southwestern Austria. He is a member of the conservative Catholic organization Opus Dei, which is admired by the pontiff.
He was named to investigate the scandal after the discovery of as many as 40,000 lurid images, including child pornography, on computers in the seminary.
Kueng closed down the seminary in August.
Police have been conducting their own probe.