VATICAN CITY (AFP) - Pope Francis has accepted the resignation of an Irish bishop who admitted two years ago to sheltering a priest accused of child abuse, the Vatican said on Tuesday.

Bishop William Lee, the bishop of the diocese of Waterford and Lismore, was relieved of his functions under article 401 of the Code of Canon Law, which covers serious offenses, the Holy See said in a statement.

According to media reports at the time, Lee admitted in 2010 that his response to child abuse allegations by Irish clergy in the mid-1990s had been "seriously inadequate".