Eleven former bishops have been “implicated” before the civil justice or the justice of the Church for reports of sexual violence, announced the president of the Conference of Bishops (CEF), Eric de Moulins-Beaufort, Monday, November 7, duringa press briefing in Lourdes.
“Today there are six cases of[anciens] bishops who have been implicated before the justice of our country or before canonical justice”said the president of the CEF, stressing that these cases were “known” of the press. One of the bishops is dead, the CEF later clarified, saying it was Pierre Pican, who died in 2018 and was convicted of non-denunciation.
Mr. de Moulins-Beaufort also indicated that Cardinal Jean-Pierre Ricard, former bishop of Bordeaux, was also concerned. He admitted conduct “reprehensible” on a 14-year-old minor, thirty-five years ago, added Mr. de Moulins-Beaufort, reading a message from the latter.
“I have decided to put myself at the disposal of justice both at the level of society and that of the Church”said the cardinal again, claiming to have asked ” sorry “ to this victim. This confession by Cardinal Ricard, 78, who was notably bishop of Coutances, Montpellier and then Bordeaux from 2001 to 2019, and who retired in October 2019, was welcomed “like a shock” by the one hundred and twenty bishops gathered in the Marian city, underlined the president of the CEF.
“Serious shortcomings and dysfunctions at all levels”
There is also Michel Santier, sanctioned in 2021 by the Vatican authorities for “spiritual abuse leading to voyeurism on two adult men” in the 1990s ; the silence around its sanction has provoked strong anger among Catholics and victims’ groups in recent weeks.
Mr. de Moulins-Beaufort admitted to having been ” made aware of [sa] situation “as “President of the Bishops’ Conference”but clarified that the CEF was not “party to the procedure”. He also acknowledged that in “November 2021, during the assembly” autumn of the episcopate, he had informed the bishops “that disciplinary action had been taken against [Michel] Santier, but without giving any indication of the acts he had committed..
Eventually he admitted “rereading this story (…) serious shortcomings and dysfunctions at all levels [qui] appear clearly”. In particular, he regretted that a “prior investigation” requested by the Vatican authorities to the then Archbishop of Paris, Michel Aupetit, in May 2020, was not carried out.
Eight implicated for abuse, two for non-disclosure
In addition, two other retired bishops “are the subject of investigations today by the justice of our country after reports made by a bishop and a canonical procedure”. A last “is 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”added the president of the CEF.
In total, ten former bishops are therefore concerned: “Eight currently indicted for abuse, including [Jean-Pierre] Richard and [Michel] Santier, and two implicated for non-disclosure (one was convicted in 2018 and one released in 2020)”according to the CEF.
In a press release published on Monday, the Archbishop of Bordeaux, Jean-Paul James, returning to Cardinal Ricard’s revelations, expressed his “great sympathy to the victim concerned”. He said share “the sorrow of all those, in particular in the diocese of Bordeaux, who will be hurt by these revelations”.
These last intervene a little more than a year after the publication of the shock report of the Sauvé commission on the extent of pedocrime in the Church of France since 1950. At its conclusion, the episcopate had in particular recognized its “institutional responsibility” in this violence.
The one hundred and twenty members of the CEF have been meeting since Thursday in Lourdes for their autumn plenary assembly. Their objective is, among other things, to work on “concrete proposals” to improve communication and transparency in canonical measures taken against clerics implicated in cases of sexual violence.