The Limited Times
March 6, 2020
On January 30, a few hours after being released on appeal in the trial for non-denunciation of sexual assaults on minors under 15 years of age in his diocese, Cardinal Philippe Barbarin, had resigned to Pope Francis. The Archbishop of Lyon said he wanted to “turn the page” on the Preynat affair, the ex-parish priest accused of pedophile acts on young scouts. Friday March 6, the sovereign pontiff finally relieved him of his pastoral charge. A year ago, he had refused “out of respect for the presumption of innocence” a first proposal from the primate of Gaul, just sentenced to six months suspended by the correctional court of Lyon (Rhône) in the same case.
Retained in the Palestinian territories by the epidemic of coronavirus, the cardinal could not announce the papal decision himself, but he sent a message to the faithful of Lyon via Twitter.
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