Pope rejects resignation of French cardinal in sex abuse cover-up
LYON: Pope Francis has rejected the resignation of French cardinal Philippe Barbarin who was handed a six-month suspended jail sentence this month for failing to report sex abuse by a priest under his authority, prompting surprise among Church leaders and condemnation from victims.
The pope’s decision, announced by Barbarin in a statement and confirmed by the Vatican, comes ahead of a judicial appeal of the case.
But it also comes against the background of the Roman Catholic Church’s struggle to restore trust in its efforts to fight child abuse, with the pope saying last month that “no abuse must ever be covered up, as has happened in the past”.
In a statement issued from his see in the French southeastern city of Lyon, Barbarin said: “Monday morning, I handed over my mission to the Holy Father. He spoke of the presumption of innocence and did not accept this resignation.”
Barbarin, the most senior French cleric caught up in the global paedophilia scandal, said he would remain in Lyon pending the court appeal, but added that ‘ for a little while’ he would step back from his job, allowing, at the pope’s ‘suggestion’, the local vicar general Yves Baumgarten to run day-to- day affairs.
“I remain in office but withdraw myself from the running of the diocese,” he told Catholic TV station KTO.
“After this judgement, this condemnation, and even if there had not been this condemnation, I think it is good that a page should be turned,” he added.
The chairman of the Bishops’ Conference of France – which represents top French Catholic clerics – expressed surprise at the decision which creates an ‘unheard of’ situation.
“I did not expect this scenario which falls between the two outcomes that we expected,” bishop Georges Pontier told AFP.
This ‘ unheard of’ situation results from the difficulty of ‘respecting the judicial process’ along with the need to ‘look after the Lyon diocese’. — AFP