LYON (FRANCE)
Agence France Presse
March 5, 2019
A French court on Thursday will deliver its verdict in the case of Cardinal Philippe Barbarin, accused of covering up sexual abuse of minors by one of his priests.
The 68-year-old archbishop and five former aides went on trial in Lyon at a time when the Catholic Church has been hit by abuse scandals in countries as far afield as Australia, Brazil, Chile and the United States.
The outcome of the trial, which began in January, has been long awaited in France where Barbarin is the highest-profile Catholic cleric to be caught up in a paedophile scandal.
“I cannot see what I am guilty of,” Barbarin told the court. “I never tried to hide, let alone cover up these horrible facts.”
The case broke three years ago and lawyers for nine adult plaintiffs – former boy scouts allegedly abused by priest Bernard Preynat – took legal action.
Since the abuse relates to acts committed before 1991, prosecutors had declined to press charges because of the statue of limitations.
The trial went ahead only because alleged victims went around the prosecutor’s office and insisted, as they are entitled, to put their case before a court.
Under French law, the court can still convict and even jail the suspect, regardless of the prosecutor’s position.
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