PARIS (FRANCE)
National Catholic Reporter
January 16, 2019
by Elisabeth Auvillain
One of France’s most prominent bishops, Cardinal Philippe Barbarin, is likely to be acquitted of charges of not denouncing a priest who sexually abused children between 1971 and 1991.
At the end of his four-day trial, Jan. 7-10, in Lyon, public prosecutor Charlotte Trabaut announced she would not ask for his conviction. Even though the president of the tribunal is not bound by the prosecutor’s stand, it seems likely that the cardinal will be acquitted.
French judicial authorities opened a case against Barbarin in 2016, in the name of the French state. The court closed it, invoking statute of limitation.
Then the group named La Parole Libérée (“the word made free”), brought the charges in a private prosecution, in their own name, as parties civiles — private victims — after discovering, in 2015, that Fr. Bernard Preynat was still working with young boys. They thought this personal action could convince a court of the prejudice they suffered, knowing most facts fell under the statute of limitation.
Stern and slightly stooped, Barbarin, 68, said he was not guilty of anything: “I never tried to hide and certainly not cover anything.” He then kept quiet, letting his lawyers speak for him during the whole procedure and explain he only made mistakes in managing the case and would act differently today.
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