While 11 bishops are accused of sexual harassment in France, French Cardinal Jean-Pierre Ricard is among the accused clergy. French bishops met at the French Bishops’ Conference in Lourdes, which aims to find out how to improve communication and transparency in cases of abuse involving clergy. Making a statement through the conference, Cardinal Jean-Pierre Ricard admitted that he abused a 14-year-old girl and said, “35 years ago, when I was a priest in a church, I behaved reprehensibly towards a 14-year-old girl. My behavior inevitably had very serious and lasting consequences for this person. opened,” he said. Asking forgiveness, Ricard stated that he would resign from his duties and stated that he was ready to cooperate with the judicial authorities and the church.
EVIDENCE FOUND OF THOUSANDS OF HARASSERS
Conferencing President Archbishop Eric de Moulins-Beaufort said in a statement that all of the defendants will face either prosecution or church disciplinary procedures. Moulins-Beaufort also stated that one person died among the accused bishops.
RAISED TO CARDINAL
Ricard, who served as bishop of Bordeaux, in southwestern France, from 2001 to 2019, was promoted from diocese to cardinal in 2006, the second most authoritative authority in the Catholic world after the papacy, responsible for the election of the Pope.
APPROXIMATELY 216 THOUSAND CHILDREN HAVE BEEN DETECTED
An independent commission set up by the Catholic Church in France found in a report published in October 2021 that around 216,000 boys and girls, mostly 10-13 years old, have been abused since the 1950s. The commission that produced the report denounced the “systemic character” of efforts to protect clergy from prosecution and urged the Church to pay compensation to the victims. The report, which was created on a sexual abuse scandal that emerged in 2017 at the request of the Church, includes a total of 45 recommendations for the Church and a series of reform requests regarding the education of clergy. (UAV)