Twin Cities Archbishop Resigns

VATICAN CITY (AP) — The archbishop of St. Paul, Minnesota, and a deputy bishop have resigned after prosecutors charged the archdiocese with having failed to protect children from unspeakable harm from a pedophile priest.

The Vatican said Monday that Pope Francis accepted the resignations of Archbishop John Nienstedt and Auxiliary Bishop Lee Anthony Piche. They resigned under the code of canon law that allows bishops to resign before they retire because of illness or some other "grave" reason that makes them unfit for office.

Earlier this month, prosecutors charged the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis as a corporation of having "turned a blind eye" to repeated reports of inappropriate behavior by a priest who was later convicted of molesting two boys. No individual was named in the indictment.