FRANCE
Catholic Herald (UK)
by Catholic News Service posted Tuesday, 23 Feb 2016
French Cardinal Philippe Barbarin of Lyon is facing questions about how he dealt with a priest who faces abuse and rape charges.
Proceedings opened on January 27 against Fr Bernard Preynat, charged with “sexual aggression and rape of minors” between 1986 and 1991 at Lyon’s Saint-Luc parish, where he ran a large Catholic Scout group over two decades.
French newspapers said the priest had been moved to a new parish in Neulise after his alleged crimes were reported to Lyon Cardinal Albert Decourtray, who died in 1994. Fr Preynat was removed from parish work last August.
In a statement, La Parole Liberee, an organisation supporting abuse survivors, said 45 alleged victims of the priest had now come forward, adding that the group had filed charges against Cardinal Barbarin for failing to report abuse. Under France’s penal code, failure to report abuse carries a three-year jail term and a nearly €45,000 (£35,000) fine.
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