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	Vatican Accepts Resignation of Uruguayan Bishop Who Had Sex with Men Catholic News Service July 1, 2009 http://thecatholicspirit.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2103&Itemid=33 Pope Benedict XVI has accepted the resignation of a Uruguayan bishop who said he had sex with two men. The July 1 Vatican announcement said the resignation of Bishop Francisco Barbosa da Silveira, 65, of Minas, Uruguay, was accepted under Canon 401.2 of the Code of Canon Law, which states that "a diocesan bishop who has become less able to fulfill his office because of ill health or some other grave cause is earnestly requested to present his resignation from office." In a letter read at Masses in the diocese June 27 and 28, the bishop asked forgiveness of Catholics after revealing that two men with whom he had sex were blackmailing him. "I never wanted to cause sadness to anyone, especially you, the people whom the Lord entrusted to me to accompany and encourage," he said. The bishop said he would "obediently do whatever the church asks of me." The Uruguayan newspaper El Pais reported that the two men were former prison inmates who began doing odd jobs around the bishop's residence and office after asking the bishop for assistance. Sex acts in December involving the bishop and the men were recorded on a mobile phone, and soon afterward the men began blackmailing the prelate, who went to police about a month ago, the newspaper said. One of the men was arrested and charged with extortion. The other was already in jail on other charges.
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