French bishop resigned Thursday over "inappropriate behaviour" towards youths after a rare initiative by the Vatican just weeks after complaints came to the attention of his diocese, reports Yahoo! News.
Hervé Gaschignard, 57, bishop of the southwest diocese of Dax, tendered his resignation at the suggestion of the Vatican's envoy to France, Archbishop Luigi Ventura, the French Catholic Church said in a statement.
Gaschignard's deputy Denis Cazeaux said at a news conference that three young people had come forward with allegations, but "it is not about paedophile acts."
Instead, it was about the bishop getting too close to young parishioners. "Anyone involved in teaching youths should find the right distance," he said.
Pope Francis accepted Gaschignard's resignation, the church statement said.
A spokesman for the diocese, Paul Perromat, told AFP that "no complaint has been lodged" with local prosecutors.
The archbishop of nearby Bordeaux, Jean-Pierre Ricard, said in a statement that two church workers "in contact with youths" had approached him on March 21 to voice their concerns over Gaschignard.
"His behaviour upset and troubled a certain number of these young people, who spoke to their families about it," Ricard said.
The head of a regional association that fights paedophilia told AFP that two teenagers had approached it with allegations against Gaschignard.
A 14-year-old boy said the bishop asked him about his sexual habits, while a girl, also aged 14, said he had stroked her thigh, kissed her on the cheek, and whispered "a lot of inappropriate things" to her.