Pope Accepts Resignation of Florida Bishop Involved in Sex Scandal

Originally published by The Associated Press, March 13, 2002

VATICAN CITY — Pope John Paul II has accepted the resignation of a Florida bishop who sexually abused a teen-age student at a Missouri seminary more than 25 years ago, the highest-ranking clergyman to fall in a series of scandals rocking the Roman Catholic Church in the United States.

The Vatican's daily bulletin said Wednesday the pope accepted the resignation offered by Bishop Anthony J. O'Connell of Palm Beach.

O'Connell, 63, offered his resignation last week, admitting to allegations made by former student Christopher Dixon, now 40. Dixon said they touched inappropriately in bed after he sought out O'Connell for counseling.

O'Connell was installed in 1999 to replace Palm Beach Bishop J. Keith Symons, who resigned because of sexual involvement with boys.

The Palm Beach case came amid a major sex abuse scandal in the Boston archdiocese, where a former priest, John Geoghan, has been accused by 130 people of molesting them during his decades as a clergyman.