Pedophilia: Barbarin together his priests to take stock – Le Figaro

About 150 priests of his diocese are expected Monday afternoon, behind closed doors, in the Lyon suburbs. This will include making the “point on current affairs,” decisions “already taken” and “new directions” in the appointment and religious home.

Weakened by pedophilia and sexual abuse in his diocese of Lyon, he is accused of not having denounced to justice, Cardinal Barbarin met Monday priests of bishopric to discuss the subject and show it seizes. Some 150 active priests are expected from 14:45 in camera, in the chapel of Ecully Valpré Centre in Lyon suburbs. According to the invitation addressed to them, it will make the “point on current affairs,” decisions “already taken” and “new directions” in the appointment and religious home in the diocese.

This meeting could especially highlight differences of opinion in the Lyon clergy. For there is one side the “deniers” and another the “Savonarola,” a priest slips on condition of anonymity, referring to the Italian preacher who denounced the fifteenth century the moral corruption of the Roman prelates. Some in any case have already taken quite firmly position as the father Franck Gacogne of St. Benedict parish in Bron.

“Pedophilia is morally worse when it comes from a priest (…) Yes, the gospel has been seriously betrayed (…) All the priests of the diocese are members of a body called the presbyterate, united in the mission … but certainly not the betrayal and the omerta! (…) I have no use for the preservation of the institution, it need not be protected at any price, “he firmly told in the bulletin of his parish of April.

Less victims, they, wanted to invite to this “information meeting and exchange” in the style of communication operation. The association “The Word Freed” that allowed to update the actions of Father Bernard Preynat on scouts in the Lyon region there are more than 25 years, the main case that shook the archdiocese in recent months, sent last week a letter to the priests of the diocese, asking them to be “spokesmen silent victims”.

Questioned by AFP, François Devaux, one of the founders of the association, denounced “sectarian aberrations” of the institution and hopes that “some will take their responsibilities,” despite the “fear”. “Barbarin tries to gather around him because it smells of fir” for him, he says.

The Cardinal is targeted by several complaints of non-reporting of sexual assault, most on the margins the case of the father Preynat, set end exam in January. Five other cases of sexual assault or pedophilia that link with the diocese of Lyon have emerged since, under investigation or have already been tried in the past. And other cases were reported in Guyana and in the Loiret, a sign that people start to speak in favor of Lyon revelations.

The Cardinal Barbarin, he vigorously denies having covered such facts. But faced with the scandal, the Catholic Church of France, whose response was often deemed too warm and clumsy statements, has announced a series of measures including the creation of local counseling centers for victims and setting instead of an independent expert commission to “light” on pedophilia in its ranks.