Vatican City - Pope Benedict XVI on Thursday accepted the resignation of two Irish bishops, bringing to five the number of bishops to resign since the abuse crisis hit the Roman Catholic Church in Ireland. In a statement, the Vatican said that Joseph Duffy, bishop of Clogher, and Francis Lagan, the auxiliary bishop of Derry, stepped down after reaching the retirement age of 75. Bishops are required to tender their resignations at 75, but the pope can decline to accept and, in some cases, he has kept bishops well past that age. In March, Bishop Duffy said that he had known about abuse allegations against a priest in his diocese but that he had not told the civil authorities at the request of the victim’s parents, Irish news media reported. The priest was later jailed.