France: 11 bishops or former bishops investigated for sexual assault

the justice of France or the canonical investigate 11 bishops or ex-bishops in cases of sexual assault, including a cardinal who recognized “reprehensible” conduct with a minor 35 years ago, the president of the Episcopal Conference announced Monday.

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Jean-Pierre Ricard, former bishop of Bordeaux, recognized “reprehensible” conduct towards a minor under 14 years of age 35 years ago, declared Éric de Moulins-Beaufort, during a press conference in Lourdes (south), where the prelates hold their annual meeting .

Another of the bishops is Michel Santier, whom the Vatican authorities sanctioned in 2021 for “spiritual abuse resulting in ‘voyeurism’ to two adult men” in the 1990s. The silence about his sanction caused great anger in recent weeks between Catholics and victim groups.

Regarding the rest, Moulins-Beaufort specified that civil or canonical justice accused six bishops; two exprelates are being investigated; and a last one is the subject of a complaint before the prosecutor’s office – which has not yet responded – and of restrictive measures by the Holy See.

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Without going into details, the president of the French Episcopal Conference (CEF) pointed to the “great diversity of situations regarding the acts committed or of which they are accused.”

The 120 members of the CEF have been meeting since Thursday in Lourdes to work, among others, on “concrete proposals” to improve communication and transparency on the canonical measures taken against religious accused of sexual assault.

A year ago, France He learned about the devastating scope of pederasty cases within the Catholic Church. An independent commission estimated that some 216,000 minors were victims of priests and religious in France between 1950 and 2020.

Source: Elcomercio

Ronald Payne

I, Ronald Payne, am a journalist and author who dedicated his life to telling the stories that need to be said. I have over 7 years of experience as a reporter and editor, covering everything from politics to business to crime.