An Indonesian bishop has resigned following allegations of having a mistress, and for skimming a whopping $1,24,000 from church coffers. The accused Bishop Hubertus Leteng of Indonesia's Ruteng diocese submitted his resignation following the allegations, and it was accepted by Pope Francis on October 11. In normal cases, Bishops retire when they reach 75, but Leteng is just 58 now and had 17 more years under his belt.
An interim head for the diocese
After accepting the resignation, the Vatican said that Monsignor Sylvester San, the Denpasar Bishop, will run the diocese for the time being, until a permanent replacement is found. However, Vatican did not reveal more details about the case.
Following allegations against Hubertus Leteng, more than 60 Indonesian priests resigned demanding action against the Bishop for his misconduct. Vatican took did this issue very seriously, and sent an internal investigation team to Indonesia which found that Yeteng had a secret mistress, and has also taken $94,000 from the Indonesian bishops' conference and $30,000 from his own diocese without accounting for it.
Leteng denies allegations against him
Ucanews reported that Leteng has denied the claims against him, and called the allegations of having a relationship with a woman, 'slanderous'. Leteng also said that the money has been used to provide education for the poor students in the country.
Leteng now joins the recent list of Christian priests accused of wrongdoing and getting fired by the Vatican.
