Dublin, Ireland (CNN) A former Vatican ambassador to Washington has called for Pope Francis to resign over his handling of sexual abuse allegations against a prominent cardinal in 2013. In a statement seen by CNN Sunday, former Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano said he told the Pope about allegations of sexual abuse against high-profile American Cardinal Theodore McCarrick five years ago, but that the Pontiff did nothing about it. McCarrick, 88, who once led the Archdiocese of Washington and was a force in American politics, resigned last month after a decades-old allegation of sexual abuse of a teenage altar boy. The Pope also ordered McCarrick's' suspension from public ministry. "It was only when he was forced by the report of the abuse of a minor, again on the basis of media attention, that he took action [regarding McCarrick] to save his image in the media," Vigano continued.

Source: CNN August 26, 2018 12:02 UTC