Vatican names successor to Rabat archbishop under investigation

Pope Leo XIV has named Father Mario Leon Dorado as a successor-in-waiting to the current archbishop of Rabat, Cardinal Cristobal Lopez Romero, who is being investigated over accusations of sexual assault revealed by AFP.

A statement from the Vatican on Saturday said Dorado was made the Moroccan archdiocese’s “coadjutor archbishop”, a title for a church official appointed to assist a sitting archbishop which also confers automatic succession in the event the incumbent retires or dies.

Dorado, a 52-year-old Spanish priest and member of the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate, had been serving in Western Sahara for nearly 25 years, ultimately becoming apostolic prefect there.

In August he was named Rabat’s apostolic administrator, an official tasked with provisionally governing a diocese whose sitting bishop is “impeded or suspended”, after the accusations against Romero came to light.

On July 8, AFP revealed that at least five women were accusing Romero — who was among the prominent cardinals considered in 2025 as potential successors to Pope Francis — of sexual violence and inappropriate behaviour.

No complaint has yet been filed with the Moroccan judiciary, the prosecutor’s office and police told AFP recently.

In response to AFP inquiries, Romero has said he “committed neither assault nor violence nor sexual harassment”, while announcing that he was stepping aside pending a Vatican investigation.

Romero’s mandate as archbishop of Rabat is officially due to end in 2027.

After Dorado was named apostolic administrator, two Vatican investigators went to Rabat to speak to some of Romero’s alleged victims and members of the diocese.

AFP

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