LOURDES: A senior church authority stated on Monday that eleven current or past French bishops have been accused of sexual abuse, including a cardinal who has admitted to sexually assaulting a youngster more than three decades ago.
Bishop of Bordeaux Jean-Pierre Ricard, who was named a cardinal by Pope Francis in 2016, has acknowledged to performing a “reprehensible” act on a 14-year-old, Bishops’ Conference of France President Eric de Moulins-Beaufort told reporters.
In a letter to the Conference that was read aloud by de Moulins-Beaufort, Ricard wrote, “I behaved in a terrible fashion toward a girl of 14 years ago, when I was a priest.”
The cardinal added, adding that he had subsequently sought the woman for forgiveness, “There is no doubt that my behaviour had profound and enduring implications for that individual.”
