Milwaukee ? Archbishop Rembert Weakland acknowledged Thursday that he paid a settlement to a man who accused him of sexual assault more than 22 years ago. He denied ever molesting anyone, but asked the Vatican to expedite the resignation he submitted earlier this year.

The archbishop’s accuser, Paul Marcoux, received a $450,000 settlement. He said he was drunk when Weakland attempted to assault him in October 1979, but he did not go to police because two priests advised him not to.

Archbishop Rembert Weakland, left, and the Rev. Len Van Vlaenderen listen as Beth Glynn confronts Weakland during a public meeting to get feedback on the handling of sexual abuse of minors by priests. Glynn told the archbishop at the May 16 meeting that her four daughters were abused by a priest in the 1970s.

Marcoux, now 53, was a Marquette University theology student at the time. He said Weakland seemed infatuated with him and later made sexual advances that he brushed aside.

In a statement, Weakland denied the claims. “I have never abused anyone. I have not seen Paul Marcoux for more than 20 years,” he said.

Weakland’s words came after ABC News first reported that he agreed in 1998 to pay Marcoux under a legal settlement, though Marcoux had not sued the archbishop.

Weakland, who recently adopted a zero tolerance policy toward abusive priests, has been archbishop since 1977 and is considered the leading liberal voice among American church leaders. He reached the mandatory retirement age of 75 in April, and is awaiting the Vatican’s appointment of a new leader.

In his statement, he said the accusation would be a distraction and asked Rome to replace him as soon as possible.

In an interview with The Associated Press, Marcoux said he first met Weakland in September 1979 at a dinner organized by a local Catholic leader. Soon after, Marcoux said he called the archbishop to discuss the priesthood.

The night of the alleged assault, Oct. 11, 1979, Marcoux said he and Weakland had cocktails and a couple of bottles of wine with dinner, then drove back to Weakland’s home where the archbishop invited him to come upstairs. Marcoux said Weakland then tried to rape him.

Marcoux said Weakland made lesser advances three to five times over the next year. Marcoux said he continued spending time with Weakland because he was interested in becoming a priest in Milwaukee.

Ultimately, Marcoux said, he sought advice from a cousin and a friend, both priests. But they advised him not to go the police; Marcoux said he now regrets he did not do so.

The archbishop has been under increasing criticism for how he dealt with a sexually abusive priest in 1979. In a recently released 1993 deposition, Weakland said he moved the Rev. William Effinger to a new church after the priest admitted molesting a 13-year-old boy.

The archbishop didn’t acknowledge the allegations to parishioners until years later, after another abuse claim was made against Effinger.

Weakland, who issued a public apology in 1992 over the Effinger case, was booed last week by parishioners at “listening sessions” held to gauge response to the sex abuse scandal.