Pope Francis leaves after leading the Episcopal Ordination of Monsignor Fabio Fabene (not pictured) at Saint Peter's Basilica at the Vatican May 30, 2014. REUTERS/Giampiero Sposito
Pope Francis leaves after leading the Episcopal Ordination of Monsignor Fabio Fabene (not pictured) at Saint Peter's Basilica at the Vatican May 30, 2014. REUTERS/Giampiero Sposito REUTERS/Giampiero Sposito

Pope Francis has kicked out a Paraguay bishop from his post for shielding a paedophile priest who allegedly molested seminarians in several countries.

Dismissed was Monsignor Rogelio Livieres Plano of the Diocese of Ciudad del Este. Albeit with a heavy heart, the pope enacted the decision to preserve the "unity of both the bishops and of the faithful" and "under the weight of serious pastoral concerns," the Vatican said in a statement.

Livieres was a member of the conservative Opus Dei movement.

Monsignor Ricardo Jorge Valenzuela Rios, an "apostolic administrator," had replaced Livieres, the Vatican said last Thursday. Part of the disciplinary measures slapped against Livieres is that he can no longer lead and say mass in public.

Vatican investigations showed Livieres, already aware of the allegations against the paedophile priest, even promoted the said person to be his vicar-general. The former bishop was likewise alleged of poor management because he established seminaries that were not adequately managed.

Church officials in a diocese in Scranton, Pa, in an open letter in March, revealed the paedophile priest was "a serious threat to young people," noting how they opposed Livieres's decision to promote the prelate to a senior position in the Ciudad del Este diocese in Paraguay.

The alleged paedophile priest was identified as Rev. Carlos Urrutigoity, an Argentine who, according to the New York Times, had worked for years in Wisconsin and Pennsylvania.

Archbishop Eliseo Ariotti, the Vatican's ambassador in Paraguay, said that the new administrator of the diocese would now be the one to make decisions regarding the accused priest.

This development follows after Pope Francis called for the arrest of Jozef Wesolowski, a senior Vatican diplomat. Wesolowski will be facing seven years in prison if proven guilty of charges that he sexually abused children while still papal nuncio or Vatican ambassador, in the Dominican Republic.

"This is another sign of Francis' extraordinary governing skills and courage," the New York Times quoted Carlo Marroni, a Vatican expert with the Italian financial newspaper Il Sole 24 Ore. It is "in line with his will to clean up house and renew the church."