The exercise was difficult. After having had to improvise, Monday, November 7, a press conference to read the letter of confession from Jean-Pierre Ricard, archbishop emeritus of Bordeaux, in which the latter confesses a “driving (…) reprehensible with a 14-year-old girl,” Eric de Moulins-Beaufort, archbishop of Reims, spoke again on Tuesday to close the plenary of the Conference of Bishops of France (CEF), which he chairs, in Lourdes (Hautes-Pyrénées). Earlier in the day, the Marseille prosecutor’s office had also announced that a preliminary investigation for “aggravated sexual assault” had been opened against Cardinal Ricard.
Eric de Moulins-Beaufort presented measures desired by the CEF to better fight against sexual violence. The list of cases affecting the highest executives of the Church of France, unveiled on Monday, is long. In addition to the Ricard affair, the institution is also grappling with the Michel Santier scandal, named after the bishop emeritus of Créteil, whose affair was kept secret for a long time before being revealed by the press. In all, eleven bishops are or have been implicated in cases of aggression.
Among the notable measures, the CEF announces the creation of a “follow-up advice”a body whose vocation will be to help the bishops in charge of a case of aggression: many would indeed feel too alone in the management of this type of procedure. “This counsel will accompany them in following up the case, advising them on how to understand the facts, how to make them known to the judicial authorities and to the Holy See, and on any precautionary measures that may be necessary”writes the CEF in a press release.
The bishops also decided to send a delegation to Rome to discuss the follow-up and the measures to be taken in France with members of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, a sort of ministry responsible in particular for these subjects at the Holy See. .
Concealment printing
So much for the actions. But Tuesday also brought new revelations about the chronology of the Ricard affair. When questioned, Eric de Moulins-Beaufort admitted to having known about it since February. He was warned by Véronique Margron, president of the Conference of Religious of France, herself informed by the victim just before. According to Marseille justice quoted by AFP, the bishop of Nice, Jean-Philippe Nault, made a report to justice on October 24, after his predecessor André Marceau was seized of the file in February. What accredit the impression of a concealment.
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