Pope Names Successor: What Happened to Rabat's Cardinal?

Key vocabulary

• nombrarv.

  to appoint, to name

  “El Papa nombra a Mario León como arzobispo.”— The Pope appoints Mario León as archbishop.

  Pattern nombrar a alguien como... to appoint someone as...

  Compare designar to appoint

  Conjugation: nombro, nombras, nombra, nombramos, nombráis, nombran

  💡 From the noun nombre (name); giving someone a name is appointing them.

• sucesorm.

  successor, heir

  “El cardenal ya tiene un sucesor.”— The cardinal already has a successor.

  Pattern derecho a sucesión right of succession

  Compare heredero heir

  Plural: sucesores; feminine: sucesora

  💡 From the verb suceder (to succeed); remember sucesión is succession.

• acusarv.

  to accuse, to charge

  “Cinco mujeres acusan al cardenal de agresión.”— Five women accuse the cardinal of assault.

  Pattern acusar a alguien de... to accuse someone of...

  Compare denunciar to report

  Conjugation: acuso, acusas, acusa, acusamos, acusáis, acusan

  💡 Note that acusar is often followed by de + the charge.

• agresiónf.

  assault, attack

  “Las acusaciones incluyen agresión sexual.”— The accusations include sexual assault.

  Pattern agresión sexual sexual assault

  Compare ataque attack

  Plural: agresiones

  💡 From the verb agredir (to attack); note that g is pronounced /x/.

• investigaciónf.

  investigation, inquiry

  “Roma abrió una investigación sobre el cardenal.”— Rome opened an investigation into the cardinal.

  Pattern abrir una investigación to open an investigation

  Compare indagación investigation

  Plural: investigaciones

  💡 From the verb investigar (to investigate); cognate with English investigation.

• apartarsev.

  to step aside, to withdraw

  “El cardenal se apartó temporalmente de sus funciones.”— The cardinal temporarily stepped aside from his duties.

  Pattern apartarse de sus funciones to step down from one's duties

  Compare retirarse to withdraw

  Conjugation: me aparto, te apartas, se aparta...

  💡 apartar means 'to separate'; adding se indicates leaving oneself.

• negarv.

  to deny, to refuse

  “Él niega todas las acusaciones.”— He denies all the accusations.

  Pattern negar rotundamente to deny categorically

  Compare rechazar to reject

  Conjugation: niego, niegas, niega, negamos, negáis, niegan

  💡 Note the e→ie stem change: niego.

• diócesisf.

  diocese

  “El futuro de la diócesis es importante.”— The future of the diocese is important.

  Pattern la diócesis de Rabat the Diocese of Rabat

  Same form singular and plural: la diócesis / las diócesis

  💡 From Greek; a Catholic administrative region; note that it is feminine.

Grammar spotlight

Sentence patterns to steal

• No es un castigo, sino una forma de asegurar el futuro de la diócesis.

  It is not a punishment, but a way of securing the future of the diocese.

  No es + noun, sino + noun/phraseYou can replace castigo and asegurar el futuro with other nouns or verb phrases.

• López Romero está acusado por al menos cinco mujeres de agresión sexual.

  López Romero is accused by at least five women of sexual assault.

  Subject + estar + past participle + por + agent + de + chargeYou can replace the subject, the agent, and the charge.

• Él niega todo rotundamente.

  He flatly denies everything.

  Subject + negar + object + rotundamenteYou can replace rotundamente with other adverbs, such as completamente.