LONDON (ENGLAND)
The Tablet
April 9, 2019
By Tom Heneghan
French Church leaders are on the defensive after two films about clerical sexual abuse and a book about homosexuals at the Vatican dramatised to Catholics the extent of the challenge to the institution’s authority.
Criticism and frustration are mounting among the faithful after Pope Francis rejected the resignation of Lyon Cardinal Philippe Barbarin following his suspended sentence from a civil court for covering up an abuse scandal that has rocked his archdiocese.
A film about the Lyon scandal, an Arte television broadcast about nuns abused by priests, and the book “In the Closet of the Vatican” by a French journalist have added to what the outgoing head of the bishops’ conference called the “profound distress” felt by clergy and laity alike. The documentary “Abused Sisters: The Other Scandal of the Church”, was shown by the Franco-German public TV channel ARTE on 5 March.
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