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FRENCH CARDINAL’S ABUSE TRIAL BEGINS TODAY

French cardinal faces child abuse trial with 5 others

posted January 05, 2019 at 05:54 pm
by AFP

Lyon, France—The highest-profile Catholic cleric to be caught up in a pedophile scandal in France is to go on trial on Monday charged with failing to report a priest who abused boy scouts in the 1980s and 90s.
Cardinal Philippe Barbarin, the archbishop of Lyon, is to stand trial along with five others from his diocese over allegations that they helped cover up abuse in one of the parishes in the area.
The 68-year-old, an arch-conservative, is one of the most prominent Catholic figures in France who faces up to three years in prison and a fine of 45,000 euros ($54,000) if convicted of failing to report the abuse.
He denies the allegations.
France’s Catholic church has been roiled in recent years by allegations against predator priests which have come to light in the wake of a global move by victims to come forward with evidence.
Clerics have been denounced in countries as far afield as Australia, Brazil, Chile, Ireland, and the United States, leading Pope Francis to promise to rid the church of the scourge that has done enormous damage to its standing.
The scandal in Lyon first came to public attention in 2015 when a former scout went public with allegations that a local priest, Bernard Preynat, had abused him as a child 25 years ago.
The scout, Francois Devaux, who has since formed a victims’ group, also filed a complaint against Barbarin, the priest’s superior, alleging that he had known about the abuse but had covered it up.
After six months of investigation and 10 hours of interviews with Barbarin, investigators dropped the case in 2016 after concluding that the allegations against him were either too old or impossible to prove.
But a group of victims succeeded in having the probe reopened which led to Barbarin and the others, including the archbishop of Auch and the bishop of Nevers in France, being ordered to stand trial.
“We hope this time to have a ruling that will be clear and obvious for everyone,” Devaux said before the start of the trial.
His victims’ group, La Parole Liberee (Freed Speech), began with a handful of people, but soon received calls and testimony from a total of 85 people claiming to have been victims of Preynat in Lyon.

The priest was prevented from leading scout groups after he was first denounced in 1991, but was later allowed to teach to children and held positions of authority in parishes until the scandal surfaced in 2015.
A lawyer for Barbarin, Jean-Felix Luciani, said the cardinal was counting on the trial to “re-establish some facts because you don’t repair one injustice by creating another one.”
The story of Devaux, the victim who brought the scandal to light, is to be told in a film this year called “Grace a Dieu” (“Thanks to God”) which has been made by French director Francois Ozon.
The priest at the centre of the scandal, Preynat, has acknowledged abusing boys during interviews with investigators.
He is set to go on trial this year charged with statutory rape.
Two other French religious figures have been convicted of failing to report child abuse in the past: the archbishop of Bayeux-Lisieux, Pierre Rican, in 2001, as well as the former bishop of Orleans, Andre Fort, last year.
The head of the Vatican’s powerful Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Spanish Archbishop Luis Francisco Ladaria Ferrer, has also been accused of complicity in the alleged cover-up in Lyon.
In correspondence with Barbarin about the priest, the Vatican’s number three had advised the cardinal to take “necessary disciplinary measures while avoiding public scandal” — seen as a warning to keep the abuse quiet.
The Vatican has cited his immunity from prosecution and he will not go on trial.
Barbarin has retained the support of Pope Francis who met with him at the Vatican in October 2017 shortly after he was ordered to stand trial.
“I have only one judge who is the Lord,” the cardinal said recently on a trip to the holy town of Lourdes in southern France.

PAT SAYS:

Its good to see the French taking a cardinal to court for covering up child abuse.

They have also processed other bishops.

The RC church has proven that they cannot police themselves.

More and more the civil authorities need to oversee this organisation

The best cure for abuse cover up is the prosecution and imprisonment of bishops.

A bishop covering up abuse should be subjected to significant custodial sentences.

66 replies on “FRENCH CARDINAL’S ABUSE TRIAL BEGINS TODAY”

Now wait for some idiot to make out these survivors are malcontents, anti-Catholic, have an axe to grind, the instruments of Satan for daring to criticise the Lord’s anointed, or some other ridiculous way of trying to evade the fact that these clergy’s behaviour has got them into trouble with the law. I expect somebody will chime in saying that Cardinal Pell was wrongly convicted.
There really is no fool like a fool blinded by religion.

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Yes, blinded by religion, deafened by religion, and struck dumb by religion.

Remaining silent over allegations of child-sexual abuse by Roman Catholic priests, in order to ‘avoid public scandal’, is a betrayal of the abused, a betrayal of personal conscience, and a betrayal of Christ.

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I agree. Deceived and bound by religion with a false face. I t still seems to me that the only real mistake these guys are seen to be making is to get caught. It is still a rarity for a leading clergyman to come out and say – this is where we made the mistakes, this is where we went wrong and taught others to go wrong.

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Let’s wait for the results of Cardinal Pell’s appeal (an integral element of every judicial process) before rushing to judgement. See the case of Archbishop Philip Wilson.

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Let’s wait, let’s wait, let’s wait until … It just might disappear or something else might keep us distracted.

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Judgement has already been made: Pell was convicted by a jury. He’s a kiddie-fiddler.

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Yet another example of Pope Francis’ utter hypocrisy over the scandal/crime of concealing child-sexual abuse by his priests.

Francis continues to keep in office the prefect of the CDF, even though there is unequivocal evidence, in the form of a communique, that the prefect ordered Barbarin to conceal allegations of such abuse.

Someone on this blog has said recently that the institutional Roman Catholic Church is rotten ‘at its core’. It is. And its core is the papacy.

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Lol I knew someone would say something like that.
It’s actually the civil authorities carrying out trials of people who are suspected of committing crimes.
If a burglar, rapist, or accessory to either of those crimes who was not clergy were to face a trial, I bet you wouldn’t call that a witch hunt.

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Magna, surely you have not forgotten Hugh Connolly? The man who managed the strange goings on in Maynooth and remains hidden in the Irish College Paris under the protection of the AB of Paris?

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I wonder what sex apps the clergy are now pursuing. We had the grindr and silver daddies and I’m told there are numerous ones out there for all sorts of gay interests. You would have thought the clergy would have learned their lesson after so many got their fingers burnt. Armagh seem to have been the worst culprits.

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I guess most of the gay guys on this website are quite familiar with a gamut of apps. They’re just part of gay life.

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Scruff? What will be next? Is there not a danger these apps could become addictive? There is the added danger of chatting to people we don’t know anything about. There was a case not so long ago of a gang who targeted men on the Fabguys app and robbed them, thankfully they were apprehended. I suppose there is a thrill involved and a degree of risk in searching out anonymous people for sex despite the dangers. It all seems rather sad.

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‘I have only one judge who is the Lord.’ So said Cardinal Barbarin.
I hope he repeats this at his trial. Wouldn’t you just love the French judge to hold this arrogant Christ-betrayer in contempt of court?
He’ll soon find out he is wrong. And if convicted, he’ll find out, too, that the Lord has judged him through the abused innocents he cast aside in order to protect another, arrogant and perverted Christ-betrayer.
I hope this bastard is convicted and that he will be made to ‘do time’ with a great, big, fat, hairy queer…with an insatiable appetite.😆

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The “great, big, fat, hairy queer with an insatiable appetite” won’t be interested in this ugly, droopy-arsed auld Cardinal.
They’re usually only satisfied by lovely, blue-eyed, slim, blonde boys …. a bit like yourself, Fr Carta.

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5:49
Oh, I don’t know.😕
That great, big, fat, hairy…is pragmatic enough to take what he can get. And no one as angelic-looking as Magna could ever have cause to be locked away.😇
Nope; that hairy guy can content himself with bouncing a cardinal off his cell walls.
Have fun, you guys.😆

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If Barbarin is convicted, he will receive not just a prison sentence (hopefully, alongside that big, fat, hairy…with an insatiable appetite for crumpled clerical rump), but a fine of €45, 000.
Well, guess who’ll actually end up footing the fine? That’s right: the work-shy Christ-betrayer, Barbarin.
Just joking.😆
THE WORKING SHEEP!
Baaaaaaaaaaaaa🐑

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You may have a point. Indeed, you should have a point.

Was it an abuse of charity status when Ireland’s Bishop of Bling, Noel Treanor, allegedly spent millions (most of it donations from working Catholics) to refurbish/rennovate his large home, and acres of grounds, on the Somerton Road, in Belfast?

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Increasingly I believe that people who give money to a charity should have the right to say how their donation should or should not be used.

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6:53
In principle, true. But for your idea to work, in practice, it would require absolute and independent auditing of all expenses, in other words, ‘full and transparent consultation, and approval, with executive power residing solely with the auditors’.
The Bishop of Bling did not consult working Catholics for their approval of his plan to spend such a sum of money, even though it was a time of ecomic recession, with welfare cuts, and a rising incidence of homelessness.

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Now Fr Mags you’re getting the wrong end of the shtick as it were: big, fat, hairy, etc. likes the wee blond boys IN THE SAME WAY that you do! Nothing “angelic-looking” about you vicious auld harridan 😂

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Magna. It was also an abuse of finances for Bishop Bling to authorise the payments of “hush” money to the mistresses( sorry live in housekeepers/common law wives) of some of his clergy !!!

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Dr David Starkey, the thinking gay man’s crumpet, said that the institutional Roman Catholic Church today was ‘corrupt, and riddled with corruption’.

What once may have appeared sectarian hyperbole is now demonstrable fact.

History has taught Romanists little, if anything. There has been no metanoia: no turning away from the morally tarnished baubles and enticements of the world, from mammon.

The institutional Church is as morally corrupt now as it was at the time of the Protestant Reformation. And now, as then, people are turning their backs on Rome, literally in tens of thousands.

And the weakest link in the chain of corruption is the papacy, as it was back then.

I agree with George Santayana, Spanish philosopher: those who do not learn the lessons of history are destined to repeat error.

Rome knows this better than any other institution in the world. At least, it would know if only it stopped going on a defensive, apologetic footing, like its predecessors in the Counter-Reformation.

Sadly and needlessly, this church will have to die, like that biblical grain of wheat, before it can rise and flourish.

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Who the Fck cares who or what you believe in sicko Magna. You have a brass neck using the term kiddie fiddler. It’s interesting that Pat likes to keep company with this sort of low life like Magna. Those who shout the loudest about an issue – you’ve got to wonder.

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Jesus shouted loudly, as it were, about the moral corruption and hypocrisy of religious leaders in his time.
Was he too, then, morally corrupt and hypocritical?
‘You’ve got to wonder’, haven’t you?😕

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7.32: I am a constant critic of your vicious, nasty, hate inciting comments and express my disgust at your abusive behaviour through words. However, your comment now shows you are capable of making rational, reasonable and persuasive arguments without recourse to insult, judgment and poisonous hate. I agree with your comment that the Church as it is now constituted will indeed have to die before a rebirthing into new life as Christ envisaged. It is dying a slow, self inflicted death with the obvious judgment of its’ corruption and departure from the vision and message of Christ. While never inspired by the ‘institutional’ aporoach to ministry, I now realise (for many years) the deviations, deviancies, corruption and moral/spiritual failures of the Church I belong to. I try just to focus, like many priests, on the vineyard I’m asked to care for. May I ask you to continue this form of commentary which evokes intelligent dialogue. It’s ultimately more productive for renewal and true Christ-like behaviour. Are you not tired of abusive narratives?

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Magna Carta never tires. He lacks the courage and imagination to set up his own blog, which in any event would attract few visitors.

Instead he is a cuckoo in Pat’s nest, using Pat’s blog as if it’s MC’s publisher, meanwhile sickening and driving people away.

Pat has been asked many times why he allows this to happen but he never gives a satisfactory answer.

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Well if, in your opinion, such a blog would attract few visitors, then why on Earth would I even think of setting one up?
(You didn’t think through your post, did you?😆)

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8.55: You are right. Magna does not possess the integrity or courage to establish his own blog. He lacks moral courage. Sadly, Pat needs someone like Magna to validate and argue more strongly his own hatred and vengeance for the Catholic Church. Pat’s denominsation of Archbishop Eamonn Martin at every given opportunity is proof of his pernicious, moral impoverishment. As for Pat’s spiritual impoverishment – bottom of the barrel. Has Pat ever contributed to any reputable firum other than the gutter tabloid press? No….he can’t rise beyond his hatred.

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That’s because Magna is well known to Pat and protected by him. It suits Pat to have this clown constantly contributing to the blog to bump up the number of contributions. That’s the crux of it.

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Stan Laurel needed Hardy: Eric Morecambe needed Ernie Wise. Their success was in the cut and thrust of bouncing off one another.
I don’t like Magna’s intemperate language and have told him so, but his vitriol certainly goes to the heart of the matter as certainly shown by the hostile squeals of the blind, those with vested interests, and those with “stuff to hide.
MMM

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8:23
What tires me most of all is the unchanging narrative of Church corruption, and the obdurate, self-defensive indifference of its authors, our ironically named ‘Church leaders’. These, by high-handed arrogance, seek not only to avoid remedial action in the name of ‘tradition’ (especially by theological arch-conservatives, like Barbarin), but seem to lack even the desire to take action that hasn’t been driven by media exposure and public shaming. Hence, from time to time, the exasperation, and threadbare patience, I express towards these people.
There is a Jewish proverb which goes like this: when six people say you are ill, lie down. Enough people on this blog have now remarked on the way I sometimes, perhaps characteristically, express myself, so I’ll TRY to avoid what you call being ‘abusive’; but I will not refrain from satire, for satire is sometimes the only weapon available when appeals to conscience fail.
This said, your contenting yourself with looking after your own little patch of ‘vineyard’ may sound cosily, and reassuringly, Gospelesque, but it is not good enough. Without admitting it to yourself, you are, in fact, just keeping your head down to avoid confrontation, and to avoid drawing punitive ire from those with more power in the Church than you possess. Is this moral cowardice born of self-preservation? It very much looks so.
And it is not inspiring.
Jesus challenged the religious authorites of his time, which, on face of it, appeared to be a challenge to Yahweh himself. But we both know better.
Don’t ever let anyone tell you (especially yourself) that you may not, with God’s approval, rock that leaking Barque of Peter.

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9.32: But Magna, despite all you say, it goes no further than those who read this blog. You’re basically pissing in the wind and not contributing to any constructive change or renewal. I believe you don’t give a damn but that you need this blog for a feeling of relevance!! And Pat needs you.

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9.32: Magna, had you succeeded to priesthood and engaged in ministry for 20/30/40/50 years you might understand the almost insurmountable problem with responding (personally) to all the crises being unearthed in the Church. Sometimes to get through and to retain some vestige of integrity, commitment and inner conviction, you must focus on the ‘vineyard’ where you work. It’s not a question of keeping my head down as keeping my head up! Call it survival but it’s survival for the good and well being of those with whom and for whom I work – hopefully – and only with God’s grace. If you ever organise a more befitting alternative christian community or church reflective of true, Christ-like living, let us know. I’ll come and join you. Till then I will remain as faithful to what I believe I am called to do and do it as best I can. Put down judgments are very discouraging.

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Magna is one of the best things on this blog. He seems to have a talent for exposing fraudulent Christian behaviour. Give him scorn and you will get more back. But, give him an intelligent reply on the subject matter or a sincere question and you will get the sincerity returned with insight.

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This post is too blatantly MC himself. Do you think people are fools. Why the sudden rush to defend MC. Pull the other one.

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11:31
Whatever you say, pal, because you’ll say whatever suits.
Truth (if it matters at all) is a secondary consideration to people like you.

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8:55. I disagree. Magna uses this forum to eloquently put forward valid points. Unfortunately your post does not do the same. It is unnecessarily vile. If you disagree with his arguments then eloquently put forward your own. I believe (although Magna is well capable of speaking for himself) that Magna’s contributions are insightful. Having come through the system, like most of us who have wakened up, he is in an excellent position to comment on what is patently obvious. You however prefer to attack someone who is not suspected of any devious crime. This does not add to the dialogue in any meaningful way. Concentrate on facts and not on your own ignorance.

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Like you say, Magna is old and ugly enough to stick up for himself. When did you become his puppet or does the actual truth hurt. Maybe you are MC.

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Magna admitted he piggy backs onto Pat’s blog, issuing more words than Pat and relying on Pat to provide an audience.
I’ve been following the blog from the start. Before Magna took over there used to be a much wider pool of people commenting, often wittily. The unsubtle, unfunny abuse started with Magna. He’s driven so many away. Go into the blog archives and see for yourselves.
I’m sure that the remaining regular from those days, MMM will back me up when I say that the blog was more joyous and effective then.

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Anon @ 9:57: I like your phraseology referring to those of us “who have wakened up”, “come through the system” and are “in a position to comment on the patently obvious.”
I have the impression that many defenders of the RC institution, its clergy’s pervasive abusive use of power, control and finance, (quite apart from their sexual abuses) entered a darkened room many years ago, donned reality filtering spectacles, and now refuse to entertain any concept which threatens their privileged pedestal. Many remain in the “security” of their darkened room while those who have ventured outside are blinded by dependence on those reality filters. Rose tinted glasses comes to mind, together with rose tinted eyes, ears, brains and thinking capacity.

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I suppose, to the likes of you, a ‘fair trial’ here means the cardinal’s acquittal … regardless of the evidence against him.
Why don’t you try turning to Christ, for a change, instead of trotting meekly, subserviently (like a little lost puppy) after mere men whose only capability seems to be taking their followers up moral blind alleys, and then abandoning them?😕

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To a great extent Anon @ 12:38 I agree. I very much miss the acerbic while witty comments of regular commentators of 3/4 years ago: Sadie on the Sofa; Big Lily; Andytown Andy; Wee Maggie McGoo; Lizzie from the Loney; they all entertained us with insightful comment on the foibles of local clerics, while the DD “Black Bush” man’s comments from his big chair in North Antrim nicely summed up significant issues.
Magna first appeared to my knowledge, towards the end of 2017. The phase of his extremely abusive interjections seems for the most part to have passed. There is little doubt that he is extremely articulate, well read and knowledgeable about religious affairs. But while he makes valuable comment, I have the impression that his domineering need to comment almost non stop on every topic, and certainly to every comment he disagrees with, while often objectively justifiable, serves to be off-putting to some who might otherwise put forward a valid contribution. His acknowledged frustration and impatience with the obvious defects of the RC establishment is very evident. But his expression of this can sometimes seem ineffective: a bit like that Max Bygraves song about the Billy Goat trying to head butt the dam wall: without much success other than to bring down vitriol from those he attacks. Impervious to reasoned dialogue they are all the more resistant to strong arguments.

When I referred to Magna’s ‘non-stop’ comments before, he refuted this. I subsequently counted his contribution in several blogs, noting that his comments in several constituted 30-40% of the content. Think about it Magna.
Yes, the nature of the blog has changed. I’m not sure it’s for the better. Indeed there are serious issues needing to be addressed. Change is in the very nature of everything. Sometimes it’s better to gently ease forward a developing momentum than rage at the wall.
MMM

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