CARDINAL RICARD. Cardinal Jean-Pierre Ricard confessed to having sexually abused a minor 35 years ago, on November 7, 2022, one year after the end of the limitation period. He and ten other churchmen were “implicated” during the Conference of Bishops of France.
The Church is once again plunged into turmoil. Obliged by the faithful for more transparency and revelations of sexual violence perpetuated by certain men of faith, the Conference of Bishops of France organized in Lourdes on November 7, 2022 lifted the veil on several sexual abuses and denounced their perpetrators. Among them, the former archbishop of Bordeaux and strong man of the Church who took part in the fight against pedocrime, Jean-Pierre Ricard, himself admitted to having had “reprehensible” behavior with a young girl from 14 years, 35 years ago. It was in a letter read by the president of the CEF, Eric de Moulins-Beaufort, before the assembly that the confession concerning the sexual abuse was made.
Jean-Pierre Ricard, 78, said in his press release that he “no longer wants to hide his responsibility” and said he had “asked forgiveness” from his victim. The act of the man placed at the head of the diocese of Bordeaux in 2001 by Pope John Paul II created a new wave of amazement among the bishops who welcomed the news “like a shock” according to the president of CEF but also among “diocesan and all Catholics in France”. The confessions of Jean-Pierre Ricard have “been the subject of a report to the prosecutor” finally assured Eric de Moulins-Beaufort.
Jean-Pierre Ricard brought to justice for sexual abuse?
The confessions made by Cardinal Jean-Pierre Ricard on November 7, 2022 through a letter have been reported to the prosecutor according to the Conference of Bishops of France, this implies that the man of the Church could be brought to justice for these acts described as “sexual abuse” of a minor. But does the former archbishop risk being punished? We can doubt it because when it comes to rape of minors, the limitation period provided for by French law is 30 years from the majority of the victim. However, according to the confessions of Jean-Pierre Ricard, the abuse took place in 1987 when the young girl was 14 years old, she therefore reached majority in 1991, i.e. 31 years ago: one year after the end of the limitation period.
The temporality between the confessions and the end of the prescription is such that it questions. Did Jean-Pierre Ricard voluntarily wait so long knowing that he no longer risked anything in the eyes of the law? Impossible to affirm it but it is clear that the situation is rather favorable to the man who says “no longer wanting to hide his responsibility” after 35 years.
11 churchmen “implicated”
The sexual abuse of a minor committed by Jean-Pierre Ricard is not the only one to have been revealed during the CEF. In total, eleven men of the Church were “implicated” before the French courts or before the law of the Church, specified Eric de Moulins-Beaufort to the faithful. Two other people who are no longer part of the Church are also under investigation. The president also pointed out during this conference that a third person was “the subject of a report to the prosecutor to which no response has been given to date and has received from the Holy See restrictive measures from his ministry. “.
New shock in the Church after the Sauvé report
More than a year after the publication of the Sauvé report by the Independent Commission on Sexual Abuse in the Church (Ciase), the revelations made during the Conference of Bishops of France created a new shock in the Church and showed that several cases are still waiting to be singled out and judged. The scandal around Mgr Michel Santier, the former bishop of Créteil sanctioned in 2021 by the Vatican for “spiritual abuse having led to voyeurism on two adult men” in 2021 was only revealed in October 2022 by the press, throwing again a shadow over the Church.