FRANCE
The Local
French victims of the paedophile priest Bernard Preynat on Monday sent a letter to Pope Francis, requesting a private audience with the pontiff.
“We wish, Holy Father, that you can be a guiding light in our night and that you take the time to get to know us,” read the letter, sent by three members of the Parole Libérée, a group set up to help members of the Scout group who suffered sexual abuse in the 1980s.
The letter went on to explain that they were not “motivated by any spirit of vengeance” and simply want to “understand” why the priest was able to remain in office until August 2015.
“By retreating into silence, our cardinal has lost all credibility,” Bertrand Virieux, a cardiologist and one of the three signatories, told Le Parisien, referring to Lyon Archbishop Philippe Barbarin, who failed to report the priest despite saying earlier this year that he had been made aware of the priest’s behaviour “around 2007-8”.
Virieux explained: “That’s why today we call on Pope Francis, in whom we trust.”
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