SANTIAGO, Chile — A Chilean appeals court has ratified the dismissal of sex crime charges against a former Roman Catholic bishop who had been forced to resign while under a Vatican investigation. The court ruled Friday there wasn’t enough evidence of a crime committed by the Rev. Marco Antonio Ordenes Fernandez, who resigned as bishop of the far-northern city of Iquique in 2012. The ruling came a week after Pope Francis’ visit to Chile was marked by protests over the church’s handling of sex abuse cases involving other clerics, notably those linked to the former Rev. Pope Benedict XVI accepted the resignation of Ordenes as the church investigated the allegations against him.

Source: National Post January 27, 2018 17:06 UTC