French cardinal mooted as possible future pope convicted of covering up child sexual abuse
France’s most senior cardinal has been convicted of covering up child sexual abuse by a priest in the latest blow to the Catholic church over the issue that has tarnished its reputation across the world.
Philippe Barbarin, the Archbishop of Lyon, was given a six-month suspended prison sentence by a Lyon court on Thursday for failing to report allegations that a priest in his diocese had abused boy scouts.
Barbarin, 68, once seen as a possible future pope, is the highest-profile Roman Catholic cleric in France to become embroiled in a child abuse case.
He said after the verdict that he had submitted his resignation from the church and would shortly have an audience with Pope Francis, who rejected his offer to resign in 2016.
He stood trial with five former aides in a case that attracted huge media attention in France after clerical abuse scandals in Australia, the United States, Ireland and Chile. The former aides were found not guilty.
Two weeks ago, Australia’s most senior Roman Catholic cleric, Cardinal George Pell, was convicted of abusing two choirboys in 1996.
Barbarin denies any wrongdoing and his lawyer, Jean-Félix Luciani, said he would appeal against the conviction.
“This is a decision that is not fair at the juridical level,” Mr Luciani said. Barbarin announced on Thursday that he would tender his resignation to the Pope.
Some of the alleged acts of abuse date back to the 1980s and 1990s and prosecutors had declined to press charges against Barbarin for failing to report them to the authorities because of France’s statute of limitations.
The trial only went ahead because the plaintiffs themselves brought the case to court, bypassing public prosecutors. The priest involved, Bernard Preynat, has confessed to abusing scouts and is to stand trial later this year.
He was questioned by church officials about alleged abuse as early as 1991, but Barbarin did not suspend him or stop him working with children until 2015.
The priest’s alleged victims welcomed Barbarin’s conviction as a victory for child protection and said it would send a powerful message to the church.
Despite the suspended sentence which means Barbarin will not be jailed, François Devaux, head of a victims’ group, said: “We have been heard by the court. This is the end of a long path.”
Barbarin shocked France in 2016 when he gave a press conference and thanked the Lord that cases of alleged abuse dated too far back to be prosecuted.
