VATICAN CITY (Reuters) – Spanish Cardinal Cristobal Lopez Romero, who is also the Archbishop of Rabat, Morocco, has suspended himself after being accused of molesting women, the Vatican said on its own news site._x000D_
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“I am accused of inappropriate behaviour toward adult women,” Lopez Romero said in a statement published by Vatican News â on Tuesday, adding that the situation had prompted the Catholic Church to open a preliminary investigation._x000D_
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News of the accusations was first reported by AFP on Tuesday. In an investigation, the French news agency said that at least five women had accused the 74-year-old prelate of sexual assault._x000D_
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AFP quoted Lopez Romero â as saying: “I have committed neither assault nor violence nor sexual harassment.”_x000D_
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The cardinal pledged to fully cooperate with the Vatican investigation, and said that to avoid interfering â with it, he would refrain from presiding over public celebrations and participating in pastoral activities._x000D_
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Lopez Romero has been â a cardinal since 2019 and Archbishop of Rabat since 2018._x000D_
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He is considered a relative progressive â within the Catholic hierarchy, and was seen as a potential papal candidate in last year’s conclave.
