In a letter issued on Friday to priests and deacons under his command, Aymond cited canon or church law that required him to offer to retire because of his age.
Historically, the Vatican's responses to such age-manded resignation offers can vary, former US Vatican embassy attorney Tom Doyle told New Orleans' CBS affiliate.
If the pope accepts the resignation, he has two options: name a successor immediately or appoint an archdiocesan administrator as a caretaker until a new archbishop arrives.
Aymond's leadership of the US's second-oldest diocese is at a critical juncture. The archdiocese presented one plan to reorganize the church and compensate more than 500 survivors of sexual abuse at the hands of clergymen.
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