VATICAN CITY (REUTERS) - Pope Francis has accepted the resignation of two more Chilean bishops, bringing to seven the number who have stepped down since a sexual abuse scandal swept the nation's Roman Catholic Church.

A Vatican statement on Friday (Sept 21) said the two were Bishop Carlos Eduardo Pellegrín Barrera of the diocese of San Bartolomé de Chillán, and Bishop Cristián Enrique Contreras Molina of the diocese of San Felipe.

In both cases, the Pope appointed other bishops as commissioners, known as Apostolic Administrators, to run the dioceses until further notice.

He accepted the resignations of five other bishops in June, a month after all of the country's bishops offered to step down en masse during an emergency meeting with the Pope over allegations of a cover-up of sexual abuse in the Latin American country.