STRASBOURG (FRANCE)
La Croix International [France]
November 17, 2022
By Christophe Henning
Retired Archbishop Jean-Pierre Gallet OFM of Strasbourg confesses to inappropriate behavior with an adult woman in the late 1980s before being named to the episcopacy
A second Catholic bishop in France in the course of several days has come forward to publicly admit having committed sexual abuse.
“In the late 1980s when I was a Franciscan friar I made inappropriate gestures toward a young woman of legal age, behavior that I deeply regret,” said retired Archbishop Jean-Pierre Grallet in a brief statement dated November 15. “By this public statement, I wish to contribute to the process of truth and assume my responsibility,” said the 81-year-old Grallet, who served as archbishop of Strasbourg from 2007-2017.
The French Bishops’ Conference (CEF) made the statement public on Wednesday.
Request for forgiveness
Archbishop Grallet told La Croix he did not wish to give further details on the events, which date back to a time when he was serving as a student chaplain. But he acknowledged that a canonical investigation is currently underway and that a report has been sent to the public prosecutor.
“During the summer of 2022, I learned of this woman’s testimony,” Archbishop Grallet said in his public statement. “I immediately wrote to her to tell her that I had failed and to ask her for forgiveness,” he pointed out. “I went astray and I hurt a person. The forgiveness that I ask of her, I also express to all those close to her, as well as to all those who, today, will be hurt under the shock of this revelation,” he concluded in the message.
The shock is all the greater because Archbishop Grallet is known as a man with a disarming smile who has always distinguished himself by a particularly affable and warm approach.
Those who’ve known and worked with him over the years have been impressed by the spiritual side of the 6.5 feet (1.98m) Franciscan, as well. Sensitive to ecumenical and interreligious dialogue, he was also among France’s most forward-thinking bishops on ecological issues.
Beyond the statutes of limitations?
Archbishop Eric de Moulins-Beaufort of Rheims, the CEF president, expressed his compassion for the person “who was the victim of this serious behavior on the part of a religious who later became a bishop”. He pointed out that “it will be up to the justice system to determine the exact nature of the events”.
Archbishop Grallet’s aggression goes back almost 40 years but could still fall within the statute of limitations, which does not prevent a judicial investigation.
Strasbourg’s public prosecutor, Yolande Renzi, issued a statement on Wednesday confirming that Luc Ravel, the current archbishop of Strasbourg, contacted her last January to report Grallet for “acts of a sexual nature committed at the end of the 1980s”. She noted “that a criminal investigation entrusted to… the gendarmerie of Strasbourg is still underway”.
Archbishop Grallet is the second French bishop to publicly admit that he committed sexual abuse, following the confession of Cardinal Jean-Pierre Ricard. During the recent CEF plenary assembly, the cardinal issued a statement admitting that he committed “reprehensible acts” some 35 years ago against an adolescent girl. The case is currently under preliminary investigation.
“I would like all those who have committed such acts to come forward and say so,” insisted Archbishop de Moulins-Beaufort during the CEF assembly. He announced that 11 retired bishops had been implicated for abuse, but said three had not yet been publicly identified. Jean-Pierre Grallet is the first of the three to do so.
In the European capital
Archbishop Grallet was a major figure in the French episcopate. A Franciscan friar for more than half a century, he was a 63-year-old priest in 2004 when John Paul II appointed him auxiliary bishop of Strasbourg. He succeeded Archbishop Joseph Doré in 2007 to the prestigious post of archbishop in the Alsacian capital.
According to the 1801 Concordat in Alsace-Moselle, the Catholic bishops of Metz and Strasbourg are appointed by decree of the French president after agreement with the Holy See. In the case of Grallet, it was President Jacques Chirac and Pope Benedict XVI who sealed the appointment.
But “following information received by the Holy See and relating to the pastoral government of the Archdiocese of Strasbourg”, Pope Francis ordered an apostolic visitation of the archdiocese just this past June. It was conducted by Bishop Stanislas Lalanne of Pontoise and Archbishop Joël Mercier, who retired in 2021 as secretary of the Dicastery for the Clergy in Rome. They completed their visitation on July 14 and sent their conclusions, which have never been published, to the Vatican. Any decisions should be made in the coming weeks.