Pope accepts Milwaukee archbishop's resignation

Archbishop Rembert Weakland: "I have never abused anyone."

VATICAN CITY (CNN) -- Pope John Paul II has accepted the resignation of Rembert Weakland in the midst of reports that the Milwaukee archbishop sexually assaulted a former Marquette University grad student, the Vatican said in a statement Friday.

The Vatican announcement came during the middle of the 82-year-old pontiff's five-day trip to Azerbaijan and Bulgaria, where he is now.

Vatican spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Walls told reporters traveling with the pope in Bulgaria that the pontiff had accepted the resignation on the grounds of Weakland's age.

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Only a day earlier, Weakland announced he had asked the Vatican to "accelerate" his resignation.

"I have never abused anyone," Weakland said in a statement read by an archdiocese spokesman. The statement went on to acknowledge that Weakland knew Paul Marcoux, now 54, and there was a "settlement agreement" of some type.

The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, in an article published on its Web site, said it had obtained a copy of a 1998 settlement agreement under which Marcoux had been paid $450,000.

The newspaper said Marcoux has said in an interview that Weakland "date-raped" him after the two went for dinner and had a lot to drink. Marcoux said he was in his early 30s at the time.

Weakland submitted resignation April 2

In his statement, Weakland said, "I have not seen Paul Marcoux for more than 20 years. When I first met him here in Milwaukee, he was a man in his early 30s. Paul Marcoux has made reference to a settlement agreement between us. Because I accept the agreement's confidentiality provision, I will make no comment about its contents."

Weakland said in asking for his resignation to be accelerated he feared the controversy would distract the Catholic Church from its goal of healing itself in the wake of reports that some priests had sexually abused children.

"I would not want to be an obstacle for that search for credibility on the part of the church," Weakland said.

In accordance with church policy, Weakland said he submitted his resignation as archbishop on his 75th birthday, this past April 2.

"I have now today asked the Vatican to accelerate its acceptance," Weakland said.

While Weakland's statement did not make reference to a specific figure, he said that he has turned over speaking fees and honoraria to the archdiocese in his 25 years as bishop that "far exceed any settlement agreement."