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1. What has happened
The case of Lyon has several components and takes place in several stages:?
The case Bernard Preynat . from 1971 to 1991, Bernard Preynat frames, as a priest, the group of Scouts in Saint-Luc, Sainte-Foy-lès-Lyon, prosperous city adjoining the capital of Gaul.
at the end of 2015, an old alleged victim of priest wrote to the public prosecutor to denounce acts of pedophilia committed by the latter against him and other former Scouts. He said he made this step after meeting other victims of Father Preynat, especially after unsuccessfully contacted Cardinal Barbarin, without anything being done, according to his story to Rue89.
on 23 October 2015, the diocese of Lyon published a press release announcing that “several persons” filed a complaint against the father Preynat for “facts prior to 1991″ . It provides: “Today, the priest has no more pastoral responsibility, and contact with minors was prohibited. “ A few months before, in 2014, the Preynat father was still in charge of the parish of Roanne, in the nearby Loire.
He is indicted since late January on charges of sexual assault committed between 1986 and 1991, and assisted witness to a rape that may be prescribed. He admitted the charges against him and confessed that its supervisory authorities were aware since 1991.
The question of victims, gathered in a very active association mediatically, The Word released is indeed that of the prescription facts: twenty years after the majority of the victim, in the case of sexual assaults on children under 15 years. It is therefore necessary, in order to continue the priest, who find victims under 38 years.
The case “Peter.” The diocese of Lyon had already communicated, the previous year, to deplore the actions of another priest, indicted for corruption and statutory rape, and suspected of having had sex with a teenager runaway 14 years. The deal will result in a dismissal, the prosecutor considered that the teenager had lied about his age and that the priest had sincerely believed to have relations with a major man.
Suspended from office, the priest is replaced in fall 2015 by another religious head of the church of the Immaculate Conception. But this in turn is blamed, Monday, March 14, for “Peter”, a man aged 42, anonymous but presented as a “official stationed in the interior ministry” , which shows a section of the Le Figaro , in which he says he was victim of fondling priest said when he was 16 years old. Again, its complaint, filed in 2009, was ranked as the facts were old and therefore prescribed.
These are two old cases, pedophilia recognized by the author, but potentially required, and potential statutory rape, which affect the diocese. In addition, the word evokes released “other similar affairs” that are about to be revealed.
2. How many victims there-he?
In the Preynat case, which would be spread over twenty years, many victims are evoked. La Tribune de Lyon says in an article in October 2015, the testimony of a victim, sexually abused at age 12, which refers to a e “twenty kids [ that] went there. ” The association’s Word released, it speaks of fifty or sixty cases during the twenty years in which the Preynat father cared for scout groups.
Most importantly, advance another witness, still anonymous, in the same journal, “things were already released at the time” , and the families had chosen not to complain, in exchange for the assurance that the priest would away from children. This has not been the case.
Yes, the Word released released several letters sent by the Preynat father of victim families in the 1990s after they were alerted diocese about it. “I have never denied the charges against me. They are for me as a wound in my priestly heart “, writes Bernard Preynat while minimizing
” How could I leave the parish overnight as a thief after twenty years of presence where I have still not that evil? Without even having time to say goodbye, to put my things to move without further sustainable position. Seeing me go and that will people think of the neighborhood, my family, my friends? They will soon know the reason, the rumor will spread everywhere, how could I then find a ministry I will be completely sunk! “
It is currently difficult to precisely identify the victims. Lyon Magazine has announced in February other potential cases of more recent abuse by the father Preynat in 2003. RMC has also published the testimony of a father stating gestures “displaced” from the priest.
in addition, members the liberated Word complained directly against Cardinal Barbarin and other officials of the Lyon church for failing to report the crime and endangering the lives of others. A preliminary investigation was opened at the end of February by the prosecutor of Lyons.
3. Cardinal Barbarin Why is it slammed?
In the case of the father Preynat, is the attitude of the diocese of Lyon is criticized. For while Bernard Preynat had acknowledged the facts dè 1991 church authorities have kept in office for years, merely changing the parish but in fact leaving in contact with children until that a new scandal.
the Cardinal Barbarin admitted in Cross , have been aware of the father’s actions Preynat “towards 2007-2008 ‘ as a result of testimony. He explains that he requested explanations from the priest, and have believed when the latter was said to have stopped since.
“So I made an appointment with him to ask him if, since 1991, he had spent the least thing. He then assured me: “ Absolutely nothing, I was completely scalded by this case .” (…) Some blame me for having thought … Yes, I believed him. “
He said the father had received Preynat confidence Decourtray Cardinal, Primate of the Gauls in the 1990s, who had restored his ministry after six months of suspension.
once notified of new business in 2014, M g Barbarin said it had sought the views of the Vatican, who asked him to remove the priest:
” I have written to Rome, who advised me to suspend him from his duties despite the twenty-four years since the facts. What I have done. “
But, as Rue89 recounts, this suspension has not been made public. The local press also evokes in July 2015 when father Preynat for “Sedif the diocesan service training. It is here that are trained lay people to become catechists or animators in parishes and in hospitals. ”
The Prime Minister, Manuel Valls, called on Tuesday, March 15 M g Barbarin “assume its responsibilities” in this case.
4. How does the Catholic authorities
The diocese of Lyon enlisted the services of a communication expert: Guillaume Didier, a former magistrate, spokesman for the Ministry of Justice (2007 to 2010) and now crisis management specialist.
the Cardinal Barbarin has completely rejected the accusations of laissez-faire, saying it acted as soon as it became aware of the facts in away (quietly, as we have seen) the offending priest. “I mean with greater force than never, I never covered any act of pedophilia” , defended the primacy of Gaul Tuesday 15 March, during a press conference in Lourdes.
“ This happened in 2006 and 2014 [as reported by" Peter "] . Police can witness it, they made me justice about it. The following Sunday, the priest had the right to celebrate Mass in his parish. A neither I have restored to ministry “, he assured.
The Cardinal Barbarin thus ensures that he had no proof, and believing his priest when he told her he stopped his activities. A defense somewhat undermined by the latest victim, the famous “Pierre” who denounces the abuses committed against him by another priest.
The defense of Cardinal Barbarin insists in this case on age the alleged victim at the material time (16 years), and provides:
“These are very hazy points of the life of a priest, but that did nothing to do with pedophilia. “
M g Barbarin also had an awkward formula and highly criticized, explaining, about the father Preynat:
” the majority of facts, thank God, are prescribed, but some may not. “
A sentence which he himself recognized the awkwardness. He explains further: “We must not confine ourselves to a legal requirement or the fact that no complaints. Clearly, this is not enough, there is something we must change. “
Cardinal Barbarin have promoted a convicted priest for sexual abuse
According to information from the Parisien a priest convicted of sexual assault was promoted to dean (responsible for several parishes) in 2013 by Cardinal Barbarin.
The man, who previously practiced in Rodez in Aveyron, was sentenced in 2007 to ten-month suspended prison sentence for sexual assaults on students (major) in a home with his care. He had arrived in the Lyon region the following year, in 2008.
The entourage of Cardinal declined to specify the Paris if it was aware of the criminal record priest at the time of his promotion. The appointment of a dean normally require the investigation of a file on the chosen priest. However, according to information from the World , the judge of all the sentences had not issued an unfavorable opinion to the fact that the priest is appointed parish.
“for us, this is the story of a man who was guilty of facts that were deemed” , reacted Wednesday the spokesman of the bishops of France, Bishop Olivier Dumas Ribadeau , stressing that the priest “now has training responsibilities in the diocese of Lyon” is “not in contact with young people, which is what the diocese of Lyon always ensured “.
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