Source: Euronews
Barbarin resigns after receiving suspended prison sentence over abuse allegation neglect
By Luke Hurst & Alasdair Sandford • last updated: 07/03/2019 - 20:17
Philippe Barbarin, the Archbishop of Lyon, has resigned after being handed a six-month suspended prison sentence for failing to act on sexual abuse allegations in the Catholic church.
A French court convicted him on Thursday of failing to report allegations of sexual abuse of boy scouts that took place in his diocese in the 1980s and early 1990s, by a priest who is due to go on trial later this year.
The cardinal – Archbishop of Lyon since 2002 – is the highest profile cleric to have been caught up in the sexual abuse scandal in the French Catholic church so far.
He was once tipped as a possible future pope.
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Lawyers for Barbarin have said they intend to appeal against the conviction. “The court’s reasons do not convince me. We will therefore contest this decision,” said Jean-Félix Luciani, adding that the court had been under pressure as a result of documentaries and a film about the case.
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Read more:
https://www.euronews.com/2019/03/07/philippe-barbarin-suspended-prison-sentence-for-cardinal-who-failed-to-report-abuse-allega