Vatican names successor to Rabat archbishop under investigation

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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

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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.

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

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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.

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AFP

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