Spanish Cardinal Cristobal Lopez Romero, who is also the Archbishop of Rabat, Morocco, has suspended himself after being accused of molesting women, the Vatican said on its own news site.

"I am accused of inappropriate behaviour toward adult women," Lopez Romero said in a statement published by Vatican News on Tuesday, adding that the situation had prompted the Catholic Church to open a preliminary investigation.

News of the accusations was first reported by AFP on Tuesday. In an investigation, the French news agency said that at least five women had accused the 74-year-old prelate of sexual assault.

AFP quoted Lopez Romero as saying: "I have committed neither assault nor violence nor sexual harassment."

The cardinal pledged to fully cooperate with the Vatican investigation, and said that to avoid interfering with it, he would refrain from presiding over public celebrations and participating in pastoral activities.

Lopez Romero has been a cardinal since 2019 and Archbishop of Rabat since 2018. He is considered a relative progressive within the Catholic hierarchy, and was seen as a potential papal candidate in last year's conclave.