Updated

Pope Francis has accepted the resignation of Cardinal Sean Brady, the leader of the Irish Catholic Church who resisted calls to resign after covering up for a priest who raped children.

Monsignor Eamon Martin has been named as expected as Brady's replacement as archbishop of Armagh. Martin has been outspoken about the need for more church accountability on child sex abuse. Brady reached the mandatory retirement age of 75 three weeks ago, and Martin had been tapped to succeed him.

Brady presided over the Irish church for much of the two decades that it has been enmeshed in scandal over sex abuse and cover-up: Brady himself was implicated after a lawsuit in 2010 uncovered records showing he was involved in suppressing information on child rapes in the 1970s.