Prosecutor’s Office is investigating former Archbishop of Bordeaux Jean-Pierre Ricard after he publicly admitted to abusing a 14-year-old girl
French justice has launched a preliminary investigation after Cardinal Jean-Pierre Ricard publicly confessed on Monday that he had abused a 14-year-old girl thirty years ago, when he was a pastor in Marseille. “A preliminary investigation has been opened to verify the elements of this disclosure,” confirms city lawyer Dominique Laurens. The investigation will reveal the nature of the events, the date they occurred and whether they were prescribed or not. So far, “no complaint” has been filed against the cardinal, the prosecution said.
“Today, when the Church of France wants to listen to the victims (of sexual abuse) and tell the truth, I have decided not to remain silent about my situation and to make myself available to justice,” Cardinal Ricard, 78, announced in surprise. . on Monday. years, in a statement. “35 years ago, when I was a pastor, I behaved reproachfully with a 14-year-old girl. My behavior necessarily had serious and lasting consequences for this person,” the prelate confessed, apologizing to the victim and his family. After his confession, he announced that he will take “a time of retreat and prayer”.
Cardinal Ricard, ordained to the priesthood in 1968, is an important figure in the French Catholic Church. He held various positions in the diocese of Marseille, where he was born. He was Archbishop of Bordeaux from 2001 to 2019 and President of the Bishops’ Conference of France (CEF) from 2001 to 2007. Pope Benedict XVI appointed him a cardinal in 2006. In October 2019, Francis accepted his resignation on the grounds of age.
Cardinal Ricard is one of four French cardinals who are part of the College of Cardinals and are likely to elect a new pope. He is also a member of the Discatherium of the Doctrine of the Faith, a Vatican agency responsible for addressing the abuse of minors by members of the clergy.
Cardinal Ricard’s confession has “shocked” and “shocked” French bishops, admitted the president of the CEF, Éric de Moulins-Beauffort. “Your initiative to bring to light a serious event from your past is important,” said the agency, which on Tuesday was determined to “continue the work begun to make the church a safer home” . “Victims remain at the heart of our concern more than ever,” he added.
A total of eleven French bishops and former bishops are under investigation by the French or canonical justice system for sexual abuse or failure to report these facts, Moulins-Beauffort announced on Monday. Among the prelates in the spotlight are Cardinal Ricard and Michel Santier, former Bishop of Créteil.
These cases have once again shaken the foundations of the French Catholic Church and outraged victims’ associations, a year after a devastating report by the Independent Commission on Church Abuse (Ciase) revealed that about 216,000 French minors had been touched, aggression or rape by priests or religious between 1950 and 2020. The number of those affected could rise to 330,000 if one takes into account the acts of lay pederasts who worked in Catholic schools, catechesis or youth movements.
Source: La Verdad
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