FRANCE
The Local
One of France’s most powerful Catholic leaders, Cardinal Philippe Barbarin, has been questioned by police over allegations he covered up the sexual abuse of Scouts.
Barbarin, the archbishop of Lyon in central France since 2002, has been accused of failing to remove a priest from his diocese when he became aware the man had sexually abused young boys 25 years ago.
Barbarin spent 10 hours at the police’s family protection unit on Wednesday where he was interrogated as part of a preliminary investigation, but has not been taken into custody, his lawyer said.
State prosecutors will now have to decide whether to pursue the case against Barbarin, which has shaken France’s Catholic Church.
The diocese of Lyon said in a statement after Wednesday’s quizzing that the cardinal would continue to cooperate with the inquiry and that he hoped his testimony would “contribute to the establishment of the truth”
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