VATICAN CITY
Today
VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis came under fire on Friday (May 20) after meeting Cardinal Philippe Barbarin, the Lyon archbishop who is suspected of covering up for a paedophile priest in a scandal that has rocked the Church in France.
“There was a meeting, nothing out of the ordinary,” Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi said, adding that he expected the two men had discussed the crisis in the French church, as well as regular business.
A support group for the alleged victims in the French scandal voiced regret that Francis had met with Barbarin while magistrates are still mulling whether the cardinal should face criminal charges.
“We would have liked to have been received instead of the cardinal, we note that once again it’s the victims who are sidelined,” Mr Bertrand Virieux, a co-founder of Lyon-based group La Parole Liberee, told AFP.
Mr Virieux said he had written to the pope in March seeking an audience.
The surprise meeting with Cardinal Barbarin came three days after the pope was quoted as saying it would be “nonsensical and imprudent” to seek the archbishop’s resignation at this stage, arguing that would be to imply he was guilty of potential criminal charges against him.
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