(LYON, France) — A Catholic cardinal and five others are going on trial in France accused of covering up for a pedophile priest who abused Boy Scouts.
It’s France’s most important church sex abuse case yet, and poses a new challenge for the Vatican amid growing French demands for a reckoning with clergy sexual abuse.
Cardinal Philippe Barbarin is appearing in a Lyon court Monday along with other senior church officials accused of failing to protect children from alleged abuse by the Rev. Bernard Preynat. The Vatican official in charge of sex abuse cases is among the accused, but won’t appear in court because of his diplomatic immunity.
Nine alleged victims of Preynat brought the case to court. Preynat confessed to some of the abuse, and is to be tried separately.
