The Vatican's retired ambassador to the United States is calling for Pope Francis to resign.

Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano on Sunday has penned an 11-page letter accusing senior Vatican officials of knowing as early as 2000 that the disgraced former archbishop of Washington, ex-Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, regularly invited seminarians into his bed, but promoted him to cardinal nevertheless.

He says he told Pope Francis in 2013 about allegations against McCarrick.

Vigano also accuses the former Vatican secretaries of state under the previous two popes of having ignored detailed denunciations against McCarrick for years. He said Pope Benedict XVI eventually sanctioned McCarrick in 2009 or 2010, but that Pope Francis rehabilitated him.
Francis accepted McCarrick's resignation as cardinal last month, after a U.S. church investigation determined an accusation he had sexually abused a minor was credible.

Speaking to reporters on the flight back to Italy from Ireland, Pope Francis said Vigano's statement speaks for itself; that people should read it carefully and make their own judgment. Francis also told the press, "I will not say a single word on this." Although he added that he may speak after some time passes.