The Vatican didn't say why Bishop Mario Olivieri resigned two years before the regular retirement age of 75. Usually, the Vatican announces early retirements by saying they were due to a "grave" reason that made the bishop unfit for office.
In Olivieri's case, the Vatican didn't even provide that information yesterday.
Italian newspapers have identified a handful of priests accused or convicted of crimes who were accepted by the tradition-minded Olivieri into his Albenga-Imperia dioceses.